X-ing
by dark shadowed rose
Summary: Kagome always knew her path in life was a strangely twisting one, the fact she always seemed to meet people twice was strange enough. But this was a new twist. One she never ever expected. Ichigo/Kagome M to be safe no real lemons just sex is mentioned and there is a lot of violence. In honor of halloween i decided to start posting. Was supposed to be a one shot, but grew too long.
1. Chapter 1

**X-ing**

**Disclaimer I own neither Bleach nor Inuyasha, and all I have to say is I'm obsessed with **

**Ichigo and Kagome pairings.**

**Chapter One**

Kagome supposed it only made sense she had died for someone she loved, his feelings not with standing she loved that stupid pushy orange headed man. She still didn't know what he'd gotten into but she supposed she wasn't too surprised, he was more of a trouble magnet then she was.

And that was saying something, she had after all traveled to the past and fought demons for two years before coming back to the future when the well closed after her wish. Then she had been in love with a silver haired golden eyed half-demon, she had thought she'd never get over him, but then she had met Ichigo by chance. Their meeting had been so brief, just his high school coming to hers for a kendo competition, she had only seen him for five minutes but she felt like she had been hit over the head.

She knew then she had to find him again, but it didn't seem meant to be, till she met him a year later, he had gotten a job in Tokyo while he went to school on a kendo scholarship. He wanted to be a Doctor.

That was when she found out he was a year older then her, she didn't mind Inuyasha had been at least a hundred years older then her even if he still seemed the same age.

It took six months of going out of her way to visit him on his shift, for him to tell her he had a girlfriend back home in Karakura.

Their paths had separated again- she sometimes thought she wasn't meant to be happy, after all all her moments of happiness had been stolen. Brief and fleeting.

At the same times as those thoughts hit her she also wondered if she wasn't just a piece on the board of the gods' game, after all her path seemed to cross with so many and almost any time she met them again they thanked her, and she never seemed to meet someone just once. That was something she had only noticed after falling through the well, she had traveled through more then half of Japan and yet she didn't just met a person once, they always came back.

So heart in hand she hoped she'd meet Ichigo again and have a real chance with him.

Her wish was granted three years later, she got a job as a teacher in Karakura she was only signed for the summer but she had hope, and she was right to hope, her very first night in Karakura she met him in the grocery store. While they shopped together she found out Ichigo had broken up with his girlfriend because he intended to take over his father's clinic not become a high payed doctor, and she was rather expensive.

So they went out on a date a week later. Then next months were bliss then she had to go back, a month later she was surprised when she found him on the steps of the shrine because he had transferred to the nearest hospital. The next three months after had been joyous, then something had changed one night, Ichigo missed a date, he called the next night and explained he had been called home and she didn't see him for other two weeks. She spoke to him a couple of times over the phone but he was so distant, then she met him, and he broke up with her, at first she thought he was sick; he was so pale and he had such a nasty look on his face, but then he broke her heart.

She knew she still loved him even as he walked away, ignoring her tears, but she thought that it was over. She had ignored the passage of the last three years, barely remembering she was twenty six, only marking the passage of time with the things her brother did, he was now married and his wife was pregnant... she wouldn't live to see the baby, that was a shame she was sure Tora and Souta would have lovely children.

But just a week ago she had seen Ichigo, curious about the hard look on his face she followed, tapping on the skills she had learned a long-long time ago. Following him six city blocks she was surprised, he not only was looking about alertly, she had seen him move in ways humans didn't, she was sure she would have missed it if not for the times she had seen demons move, the real trick when something was much faster then you was learning to predict movements, and she had gotten good at that.

She had seen him not once but twice move fast enough he was across a street in a blink, and no one on the sidewalks had noticed. She sped up, he was getting into a narrow side of the streets, and she found herself wondering what on earth was he doing down here? Then next thing she knew she was pinned to the wall knife to her throat, and she was choked just tight enough to stop the instinctive yelp.

Blinking she found herself staring into Ichigo's deep amber eyes. His hard glare faded into shock, "Kagome?"

His hand loosened, for half a second and then tightened as he inhaled deeply, then he let her go and hid the knife away, she remembered being stunned by the flash of silver. Because she had known whatever he had gotten caught up in was bad.

"What's wrong Ichigo?"

He had scowled and one hand had started messing up the orange hair she loved so much, his response was surprising; "Damnit! What the fucking hell were you thinking?!"

She remembered how her heart had clenched, that tone had been so angry, but at the same time she had remembered how Inuyasha would yell at her when he was scared. "I was worried, you were acting like someone dangerous was after you."

He glared down at her, hand dropping from his head. "I knew I was being followed now I know it was just you."

Kagome remembered how she had ignored that, maybe she should have listened a little better, someone had seen her with him after all. While if not then the next time. He'd put her off and gave her a meeting time at a mostly random coffee shop, she had met him there six days later.

Dressing as nicely as she could justify to herself she ended up in the named coffee shop almost twenty minutes early. Ichigo showed up fifteen minutes later, something she loved about him, he was mostly punctual and if he wasn't he could explain, and normally called.

But her heart almost stopped when she saw him stop outside with a short black haired violet eyed girl. They talked and then the girl let him come in alone, he looked about and didn't seem to have seen her. So she stood up and walked over to him intending to act like she hadn't seen anything and had just arrived.

He brought it though that strange look was back, it was a mix of pain and disgust.

It hurt a lot to see that on his face, it hadn't been there when he spoke to the other girl. Her asking what he was running from had been met with a dark look and a muttered "You'd better hope you never find out."

Then for the next half an hour he stonewalled her: nothing about what he was doing, who his friends were, not one personal word passed through his lips. She had almost been in tears, so she finally asked, "Why did you ask me here?"

The only honest thing she was sure he'd said was that, she understood now and even then he was trying to protect her, he just did it in the most hurtful way possible.

"Because I need to know you won't say anything to anyone."

She remembered the way she had choked out a promise, and then had offered that if he ever needed a bolt hole he could come to her. He nodded but walked off sneer still on his face, the girl caught up to him outside again and the two had walked off together.

She had barely been able to stop herself from breaking down there and then, but she had put it aside and had walked out, getting all the way back to her apartment before breaking down.

Kagome inhaled sharply as a spike of pain flared in her side, she pressed down hard on the stab wound. The pain was bad but she didn't mind it much, what good in her life didn't hurt in some way?

Inuyasha hurt because he had all those memories of Kikyo, Ichigo because they only seemed capable of passing by. Even Souta hurt, he treated her like his hero and she felt useless. Her mother brought regret because she hurt her so much through the years. Grandpa because she had never been ready to listen to his stories till he wasn't there to tell them. Her father because she remembered nothing but being mad the day he died that he made mommy cry.

Kagome sighed to herself, she really didn't deserve much better then this alley, trash, the rats, a cat, a few dumpsters. She didn't mind, at least Ichigo wasn't going to be caught because of her.

She closed her eyes, it seemed funny to think the coffee shop had only been yesterday. What could she have done different? Nothing. She had gone to teach her class, eaten lunch with Souta as he was off from work, gone to another class for herself, gone shopping for the baby shower, sure she had gotten three presents already but a few more wouldn't hurt. Had dinner with her mom, and then been dragged down this alley on her way home; The brown haired man who had dragged her down here had been so fast she knew right away this was because of Ichigo, so the man waving a knife in her face didn't matter much, she had known for a long time she would die to protect anyone she cared about.

And she was dying.

The knife had to have hit something vital, she was in too much pain and too weak for it not to have. But the bastard had made sure it would be slow. Slow and agonizing, she supposed she could try to cry for help but... she was so far down the alley she was sure it would be inaudible, so she stayed quiet and thought.

She had thought when she was younger she would die surround by friends, but when the well closed ripping her away from them, and Inuyasha hadn't shown up at her door- she knew she had to marry and have children or die alone. But aside from Ichigo every single man she had met left her cold, even super stars most of the world drooled over.

And Ichigo was most assuredly not interested in having children with her. She felt something hot run down her face and realized she was crying, not because she was dying and leaving the world but because she was unloveable. Her eyes opened, untouchable and unloveable. She supposed that was a touch dramatic her mother and brother loved her, grandfather loved her, and she wasn't blind enough to deny some times she turned heads. But that wasn't the love she wanted.

She closed her eyes again, the bastard's face flashing before her. The amused sadistic glee spoke for it's self, he hadn't just stabbed her because she'd seen him, but because he wanted her to suffer and probably given he had demanded to know where Ichigo was, because he wanted Ichigo to suffer.

She exhaled, noting distantly her breathing was getting shallower. At least Ichigo was safe, and actually he probably wouldn't find out about her death till it was on the news. Of course there always was the chance he'd left Tokyo and wouldn't find out at all she doubted anyone outside of Tokyo would care, or at least it... she wouldn't be important enough to get on the news outside of the city.

The pain was growing, that or she was getting less and less able to focus on anything else.

Pressing down harder she found herself thinking sarcastically that wasn't it suppose to hurt less as you died?

Things to think on, how she got here, check, brother, check, family, check, job, death, old friends check. She felt herself start panting, almost gasping for air. She had lost enough blood her body wasn't getting enough oxygen, soon she would pass out, then die, as it was even if someone found her and called for an ambulance it probably was too late.

Ichigo, I love you so much. I wish I told you. I wish we could have worked. I wish you weren't in trouble.

Her head was spinning but she swore she had just heard something.

There were rats last she had seen.

She groaned, she didn't want to still be alive when they started eating her.

"Kagome!"

Now she was pretty sure she hadn't just imagined that. She dragged her eyes open, black sky, dark buildings... orange hair. She inhaled and smelled something other then the alley and her own blood, Ichigo. Ichigo was here.

"Oh."

Ichigo was pressing down harder on her stomach, and it really really hurt.

"Kagome hold on."

She blinked up at him torn between wondering how was he there, and wanting to tell him to go away, he wasn't supposed to be here. She was gonna die alone.

"I didn't tell," Kagome barely recognized that weak breathless voice was her.

Ichigo's eyes seemed oddly red, and not just he was gonna cry but bloody red, glowing red. Well maybe more like his amber eyes had lit up and spilt into the colors that made it what it was, because she now could see an almost yellow ring about his iris.

Ichigo was talking to her, "... I know you didn't tell. Just hold on and I'll get you some help, you'll be fine and get to go home and see Mama Sakura and see Souta and help out at the shrine again..."

He was babbling. She thought he couldn't stand her, but he sounded so upset. Probably because he had gotten her into it.

"Go away."

He stopped talking and looked at her eyes still glowing oddly.

"You weren't suppose to know," she felt her chest struggle in take in enough air for her to finish what she was saying. "I was gonna die and you weren't gonna know."

Now he was crying, bloody tears, she could see them. Okay it was watery blood, but blood. She had seen it, been covered in it too many times not to know what it was. She struggle to inhale again, but it was too late, she had lost too much blood and the effort was too much, she let the blackness take her.

She woke slowly, the first thing she noticed wasn't her body it was the loud arguing voices; a loud bossy one and Ichigo's, he was angry and stressed, she could tell. Listening she understood the bossy girl was furious because he'd brought her back. And changed her? Risking both their lives.

Oh, she was mad at him too, he should have left her to die, she had kept her promise and it seemed like they knew what had happened. Focusing she realized her body didn't hurt like she thought it would, it felt stiff and awkward almost like it wasn't her body, but not bad. Not the agony she expected.

She tried to move and was frightened when her body didn't respond, she tried to move harder, she stated to panic last time she hadn't been able to move her body she had almost died as the building burned down around her. Remembering that she realized relaxing would work better. Deep calming breaths.

That when she realized she wasn't breathing.

This time she didn't panic, the very fact she realized she wasn't breathing said whatever Ichigo had done to change her meant she didn't need to breath. What on earth had been done to her? Was this what happened to him? He woke up and realized he had changed?

It could explain a few things.

Now that she knew she had been changed she wondered into what? What moved impossibly fast, had red eyes, didn't necessarily need to breath... moved quickly. Bless you Eri. She probably would still be scratching her head if not for Eri, Eri had become obsessed with Vampires for a year, made them watch all the vampire movies she could get her hands on with her, told them about a lot of the legends.

But what was true and what was not?

She would just have to wake up and find out. But she wasn't waking... relax just focus on what your feeling she told herself, you know forcing it isn't going to help. But she could feel her efforts to calm herself weren't working, something not panic... not fear, but something close began to press.

Then finally her body started to listen, she started to breath, deep heaving breaths. She ignored the voices above her, she wanted to move. Now. Things she didn't recognize filled her nostrils, something burned unpleasantly, and something else... no two things made her mouth water. She was hungry and not just a little.

Her stomach rolled as she realized one of the things she was smelling was blood, she fought to move, to cover her nose, to open her eyes. Anything.

Her eyes flew open and the first thing that met her eyes was the strange girl who she had seen with Ichigo outside the coffee shop, the girl was staring down at her from six inches away. Kagome didn't know when she decided the girl was too close but she felt like it and she pushed away, throwing herself off the bed she was on. The next thing she knew she was hitting the far wall, she felt the wall crack behind her and she realized she had torn up the bed as well.

Did she have claws?

Yes, yes she did. She stared down at her hands in fascination, they looked a lot like Inuyasha's or Sesshomaru's. Suddenly she realized her ears were ringing, Ichigo was yelling at the girl who was yelling back. She had woken too early... whatever that meant and Ichigo was pissed the girl had scared her.

She had been scared?

She was pretty sure that hadn't been what she had been feeling, okay maybe a little, but the need to be away from the girl who didn't seem to like her had been more... important?

She suddenly realized, or at least had a guess as to why Ichigo had to leave; it wasn't just because he had vampire enemies, or because he wasn't allowed. It was because he hadn't been safe to be around. She wasn't safe to be around. She didn't know what she might do next.

She couldn't go see her family.

She felt something run down her face and touching it she realized it was blood, Ichigo really had cried blood over her. Then shoes entered the edge of her vision and before she realized it she had inhaled and was hissing at the girl.

"Shut up."

To her surprise her mouth closed and she had stopped hissing. Did that mean she had to obey older vampires? Or was it some power?

"Rukia you don't have to be so harsh!"

"You shut up too, you were the one who started yelling." Ichigo went silent despite his angry face, so it was probably you have to listen to older vampires.

The girl, Rukia turned back to her a neutral look on her face for all the yelling she had heard earlier. "Kagome, I'm sure you're confused and frightened, but you need to relax, now drink this."

The dark haired girl shoved a cup full of thick red blood at her, there was a straw. But Kagome didn't use it, the moment she saw the blood her instincts took over and she drank it straight. The cup was empty in seconds Kagome went to close her mouth and cut her own lip with her fangs, feeling the wound drip blood down her chin she wiped at it and sucked her finger clean.

She felt more balanced, she had been staving and she had noticed being hungry but the depth of the hunger surprised her, she had never ever felt so hungry. That made her realize that strange emptiness she had felt gnawing the edge of her mind was the hunger, not just the feeling in her stomach like she was used to. She would need to learn to keep an eye on how hungry she was, she was afraid of what would have happened had that been a person. This was at least a litter sized cup. Taking a deep breath she tasted the room, Ichigo smelled upset, the girl was calm, but annoyed?

And she smelled more blood. Then she realized for all she felt better she still was very hungry.

The violet eyed girl seemed to realize it, "Do you want more?"

Kagome tried to open her mouth to answer but realized she hadn't been told she could talk, so she nodded. Rukia left, not running but quickly. Ichigo walked over and leaned on the bed watching her, she noticed even if she couldn't smell it he felt guilty. The slight slump to his shoulders and the dark brown of his eyes told her that much.

Now she wanted to talk. She didn't mind, she had hoped he wouldn't find out she had died because she didn't want him to feel bad. Now he did anyway, and judging from how she could smell stuff he knew who had stabbed her too.

She licked her lips as the smell of blood got stronger, that was when she realized her lip wasn't bleeding any more. Touching it she found no sign of the little wound. Super healing was true, which would be nice if there was some Vampire war going on, even if it was just one clan or whatever against another. She could heal like Inuyasha, some weak little human she'd be now!

Not that she could show off to him... Rukia was back and holding out a new big cup, she grabbed it and rather then just pouring it back like she had the last one she sipped, but the moment the rich blood hit her tongue self control disappeared and the next thing she realized was the cup was empty and one of her teeth had cut the edge of the cup.

She pouted, controlling herself would take some time.

Rukia spoke up, "You can talk now."

Kagome looked and realized it was a general enough comment both her and Ichigo could talk. Ichigo was staying silent, but the half glare spoke volumes.

"Why do I have to listen to you?"

Rukia and Ichigo both looked surprised that that was her first question. Why she didn't know, unless they were expecting her to have gone into denial about what she now was. Well to be fair they didn't know her history with the unbelievable and impossible so...

"Because I turned you, Ichigo got you started but he didn't trust himself to finish it. Now as to why in general, no one knows, all younger vampires have to listen to one older then them of the same bloodline, but as you get older you can learn to disobey. But it takes many many years. I just started to be able to in the last thirty."

Kagome nodded, "So how old are you?"

Rukia again blinked, Kagome inhaled and tasted the confusion in the air, and now something sour... guilt? Sorrow? She inhaled again, it was bittersweet so she was guessing sorrow.

"Two hundred and... thirty three? No forty three."

Kagome nodded. She found herself wondering what she should do next, she couldn't go home obviously, so what should she do as a vampire? What do you do for hundreds and hundreds of years? That was something she had wondered while around demons, what on earth did Sesshomaru do other then hunt down enemies?

"Who turned you?"

Rukia blinked and seemed even more surprised, Kagome was a touch surprised herself that hadn't been what she meant she wanted to ask about the number of Vampires but this was a start.

"My brother."

Kagome nodded and then when Rukia didn't go on she asked; "Where is he?"

"Working at Sakura Biosciences..."

Kagome felt her eyes widen, that was a very important medical company... She looked at the cup she had accidentally crumpled, that explained the blood. It was a donation for their blood bank, but she now was guessing half the donations vanished or were used in an off the record way. That said... How long had vampires been around? She didn't remember meeting any in the past, but they seemed to look mostly normal... but the amount of blood needed... wouldn't the deaths have been noticed?

"How old are vampires?"

Rukia looked uncomfortable, "The oldest I know of is close to a thousand."

Kagome felt something in her relax, she knew she had a good intuition but when she got that feeling... It reminded her of the feeling she got hunting down the jewel shard after she shot the demon crow, a mix of guilt and a general sense of responsibility. She didn't want to feel that feeling ever again.

"What myths are true?"

Rukia snorted and then smiled, "We have red eyes when we are feeling strong emotions, we cry blood, we need blood to survive, we can go in sunlight we just need more blood to do so, it's like the sunlight makes us burn through blood faster. You can die of sun exposer but it's most like starvation, you've used all the blood in your body and then die, kinda burning while you die. Mostly for that to happen some other Vampires have to have with held food for two, three days and then leave you out all day. We can't eat human food, we just spit it back up. We're strong and fast, you turn someone by biting them, bleeding them mostly dry and then giving them your blood back. Not just a bite, oh and we heal really fast, a sword or a wooden stake through the heart can kill you..."

She paused thinking, "Oh and don't get beheaded that kills you too, other wise you can survive most anything."

Kagome found herself smirking, she would be highly surprised if being beheaded didn't kill a vampire, that killed almost anything even ninety nine precent of demons. Vampires were old, almost invincible, and... right.

"What's..." Kagome broke off, how to phrase this? "What are Vampires doing?"

Rukia looked sad and Ichigo was back to looking angry even if he was glaring at the ceiling.

"We're at war, me, my brother, Ichigo, the man who turned my brother and many others are... pro human. The other side, the man who killed you for example think they are better then humans and should rule them publicly, declaring them sheep and cattle for all intents and purposes. We think we can just go on living in the shadows not bothering them for more then a pint or two in their life times.. but we are losing because we aren't willing to turn every low down scum bag who is willing to make a few bucks."

Rukia broke off and clenched her jaw, and Kagome got the feeling Rukia knew a few who thought they should rule, her rant was a touch too personal for her not to. And Kagome could understand if she knew someone for a hundred years and then had to fight them she'd be upset too.

"Anyway things came to a head three and a half years ago..."

Kagome noted that was just a few months before Ichigo was probably turned.

"The old ones like the man who turned my brother and who allows us such a peaceful existence, they've seen a good many wars, they know how many lives can be lost, and then world war two happened, never had so many died from one war. They started to worry one day a war would break out and kill most of the viable population, rending a good many Vampires homeless and likely to starve, so the serious idea of taking over started rolling around. My brother's boss Katsumi vetoed it, and he was listened to, the older ones all listened to him very seriously, but... Then a Vampire calling himself Aizen came forward by killing vampires who supported Katsumi, old ones. He then made a call for all Vampires who were tried of sulking in the shadows, obeying men 'so old they didn't care anymore'. We were taken by surprise that so many joined..."

Rukia drifted, something sad on her face, shaking herself out of it she went on; "That first meeting was a slaughter, many died and a lot of the formal Vampire government died, and the rest scattered. We got a new house thanks to my brother's connections, Katsumi lives in a secret set of rooms in the main office building, and small fights have continued for the last few years."

The silence seemed to press, Kagome knew there were a lot of things left out. "How did you get turned Ichigo?"

He looked directly at her for the first time since Rukia started explaining. "I was on my way to our date that night, when I heard a fight down the alley: I went to investigate and found Renji almost mortally wounded, you know I was pretty good in a fight and as a med student I thought I could help. I didn't see the man who had hurt Renji so I knelt down to help and was surprised when Renji pushed me out of the way of another strike. I was furious this man was attacking Renji not that I knew him at the time, so I got lucky and grabbed a leg chair and smashed it over the guy's head. He heard me coming and turned, but I caught him in the eyes. He was blind but it didn't stop him from almost killing me, first he threw me into the wall, I think my back broke and several ribs not to mention a concussion, so totally stunned I couldn't stop him from stabbing me. He licked the wound a lot and Renji couldn't get up enough to help me, so I was half way to bleeding out, the guy could see again and then Rukia showed up with a sword."

Ichigo paused as if remembering his surprise and confusion at the sight. "She chased him off and came to me and realized I was dying, when Renji said I had tried to help him she offered to turn me. I..." He broke off what he was gonna say again, and the smell of sorrow and regret got stronger. "I agreed."

Kagome glanced at Rukia and realized even if her face was neutral, she felt guilty... She wondered why.

"So who's Renji to you?"

Rukia grinned, "A hot headed fool I've known since childhood. I was not the blood sister of my brother, he married my sister, she had left me behind after our parents died, and felt guilty about it. So she told him about me, she died two years before he found me in childbirth, their son didn't survive either. But Byakuya found me and took me in. After he was turned, he turned me so he wouldn't be alone and so he could keep looking out for me. He also turned Renji for me, Renji was our servant he hadn't wanted to leave me when I was taken in so Byakuya gave him a job. So it was only natural he change with us. He's my Brother's bodyguard at the moment, Byakuya is the current head of the board of directors in the company, really he's a front for Katsumi."

Kagome nodded and realized she was still curled up in a ball against the wall, she stood startling the other two. Both twitched but relaxed when they saw what she was doing. Frowning down at her clothes she saw they were her torn and blood stained clothes from the attack. She looked up at Rukia, "What am I going to do? I assume I can't just go home, and I doubt I would be safe around children for some time, what can I do?"

Rukia frowned, "We'll keep you here till you have some control over yourself and your speed and strength. You can call to quit your job and we'll look at getting you one in the company, be it as an aid or a secretary. You can give me your address and I'll pick up your things, you can go make a call from there." Rukia pointed out the door into the hall where she could see a phone.

Kagome nodded and was about to thank her when Rukia added a clause. "But only if you think you can use it without breaking it."

She frowned, unsure if she could, "I'll buy you a new one if I break it."

Rukia nodded, "As long as you understand."

Kagome nodded and concentrating forced herself to walk at a painfully slow pace, a human pace. No wonder Inuyasha always complained about them being slow. The time it took her to reach the phone seemed ridiculous but she knew she needed to have a complete grasp of her speed before she could even think of going out side the house. Looking about the hall she noted that she was probably underground, the halls were decorated with a traditional hand but she could tell it had been westernized.

Now hold it gently, gently, gently. She grasped the phone carefully, like she would a butterfly, or a bird, or even a flower. Gentle. She told herself when it cracked a little as she lifted it to her ear, then slowly she dialed home, she would tell her mother she was on another adventure, her mother would understand.

It rang once then twice and her mother picked up, "Higurashi Shrine."

"Mama."

Her mother exhaled and something creaked in the background, likely the counter in the gift shop. "Kagome, you never got home last night where were you?"

"How did you know?"

"I called because you left your coat last night, you didn't pick up."

"Oh. Sorry for worrying you, and I'm sorry for making it worse. You won't see me for a long time, I got caught up in something again."

Her mother stopped breathing and then asked slowly, "Like with Inuyasha?"

She smiled sadly, her poor mother, probably thought correctly someone was around she didn't want to hear the whole story. "Yes, exactly like that. I don't know if I can come home again though."

Her mother inhaled sharply and then exhaled slowly, "As long as you're careful my dear."

"I'll try, give Souta my love and give Tora the baby presents they're on my bed... mom can you pack up all my clothes, someone will be by to pick them up."

Her mother made a shuffling sound, "Yes my dear, what about your apartment?"

"I'll take care of it, just pack my clothes mom... Thank you and I'm sorry."

"It's okay baby, just be safe."

"I will mama."

Kagome hung up, for a moment she stared at the phone, this was so unreal, she was once again caught up in something far bigger then she. How could this happen to her twice? She set the phone down, and turned intending to ask for a shower, but she jolted when she found Rukia standing only six inches away from her. Her hand lifted and was curved into claws before she had thought about it, Rukia caught her hand seemingly effortlessly, but Kagome could feel the surprise the girl felt at her reaction or strength she didn't know which.

"Pay attention and listen for the sound of shifting clothes, that is the most sound we make without being hurt."

Kagome nodded, she had the hearing of a demon, she needed to use it.

Rukia frowned at her, "What did you mean like Inuyasha?"

Ichigo answered despite his own frown, "He's her old boyfriend."

Kagome smiled and shrugged, "What was I gonna tell her? Inuyasha and I ran away, I was only fifteen, we traveled around the country for several months only making stops back at home for money and food."

"_And what was I gonna tell you, I traveled to the past? Get real chick not happening."_ She shook her head, "Can I get a shower?"

Rukia looked at her again. "You can borrow a shirt of Ichigo's and a pair of pants, I'll get your clothes... when do think she have'll finished packing up?"

Kagome thought about it. "Give her two... no three hours and then go. She'll have it done."

Rukia nodded and walked off heading down the hall, Kagome watched her go, and after hearing a door open and shut she looked back to Ichigo; he was scowling down at the floor looking absolutely miserable.

"Ichigo why was that vampire after you?" Kagome blinked, that wasn't what she meant to ask.

He looked up, slightly surprised, but his gloom still clung to him. "I apparently am one of the strongest Vampires born. I'm still young, technically considered a newborn but I'm reasonable good at throwing off orders, Rukia still can boss me around but Byakuya and Renji can't nor can most of the others. I think I still listen to Rukia because I trust her. But anyway the guy who attacked you; brown hair, normal sort of face, brown eyes, kinda tall. Yeah, don't know his name but first he was the guy attacking Renji, second the next time I met him I cut his arm off. Almost killed him, but anyway he kinda has been hunting me as a vendetta. I know he's pretty old and high in the enemy pecking order but no clue who he is."

She nodded, revenge that fitted with what she had seen and guessed, that man had tried to kill her to get revenge... and it seemed to have worked. Ichigo felt really bad and wouldn't even hold eye contact with her.

He at the moment was staring past her, down the hall.

Her heart moved her to speak, "Ichigo I don't blame you, it's not your fault."

Ichigo looked up at her eyes flaring red-yellow, "What the hell do you mean it's not my fault?! He was looking for me and saw you with me, that's the only reason he went after you!"

"Ichigo it's not the first time someone's came after me to hurt someone else, get over it. I don't blame you so you shouldn't blame you. You want to make it up to me come closer then a few feet and stop acting like I'm the plague."

Ichigo reared back, looking at her a mix of confused surprise, and hurt. Then he blinked processing what she had just said. "Who? Who came after you?"

She decided less was more, "Inuyasha had enemies, and the guy who did is long dead. My life isn't as normal as you'd like to paint it. I know this may surprise you, but I don't care you turned me, and I don't care there is a war to fight. I can handle all of it."

He snorted, falling back on his old habit of thinking she was exaggerating. She knew she'd show him at some point, of course fighting vampires she probably need to get some all wood arrows. Then she'd show him. Rukia cleared her throat tactfully. Kagome barely stopped a hiss, taking a moment to make sure she had mastered her voice she said politely: "Thank you. Now where's the bathroom?"

Rukia pointed and now that she was looking for it she thought she could smell soap. Walking down the hall she heard the sound of the door closing behind her. She got the feeling Rukia wanted to make sure she didn't over hear this part. She would have dashed back but she knew they would be listening for the sound of a shower. She reached the door that smelled most strongly of soap, opening it she went in and found a huge shower, there was also a claw footed tub. Impressed in spite of herself she put her clothes on a counter, and stifled a shriek; when looking up she saw in the mirror her own eyes were red. It was startling, so used to her own blue eyes to see the red-violet startled her. Recovering she stripped and threw her own blood stained and torn clothes away, stepping into the shower she didn't wait for it to get hot, washing the dried blood off and making sure the scent of everything else was gone she grabbed a large towel and slipped out, important body parts covered, the shower still running. She wrapped her hair up and crept down the hall where she could hear Ichigo arguing with Rukia.

"... I don't want her here!"

Kagome felt her heart sink, when was she going to learn eavesdropping only upset her?

"Why not?! She was all you talked about!"

"She's gonna slow us down! You know how Byakuya will react! You also know how close it came last time!"

Kagome let her eyes drift closed, that was how it was going to be. She locked up the feelings of hurt and walked calmly and silently back to her shower, purposely not listening for more. She hadn't lost too much of her muscle from her travels, she'd finish her shower, then she'd asked about a training room. She clearly needed to get a feel for her full speed and how to control it, then she'd worry about a weapon. She also would work on sneaking, she hadn't been caught this time but she knew she would need practice to be demon like.

Dropping her towels she climbed back in, she wouldn't slow anyone down.

Blinking she realized silent tears had started slipping out. Sighing she wasn't too surprised, for a moment she'd let herself be weak.

**Rukia**

She stared, and then stared some more. Then swore, "You damned liar, you just don't her trained, you don't want her even in control enough leave the house do you!"

Ichigo slumped, and then fell back on the bed, he stared at the ceiling his eyes red, and with what looked like tears gathering in his eyes, "Rukia... she was fucking dead. Dead in my arms, died there. And the last thing she said to me was I wasn't suppose to know. Now she's practically telling me she could walk out and start fighting. You and I both know the moment she goes out and that guy and his whole side find out we changed her, she'll have one big ass target on her back."

He ran a hand over his face and choked out, "I can't lose her, not her too."

Rukia saw the blood escaping the cover of his hand even if her nose could tell her he was crying. "Ichigo you saw her, she didn't break the phone. Do you know how rare that is? To have a newborn with enough control to do that? You didn't even have that much control."

He groaned, "God I know. I know."

Rukia closed her eyes, she knew how much Ichigo loved Kagome, she remembered how crushed he'd been when he realized what the scent of fresh pumping blood would do to him. She remembered how hard he had fought for control hoping he could see Kagome again, but then how horrified he'd been to realize she was his blood mate. So he had broken it off with her, leaving her to listen as he reminisced over the girl, now this. If he were smart he'd trick the girl in to agreeing she couldn't leave until she could beat him in a fight. That would mean it would take someone like the man who killed her in the first place to get her, anything less would be easy.

"Ichigo, you're lucky she isn't upset, if she was she'd probably mention it to brother you didn't ask and you'd be in a lot of trouble. Seize your second chance, she's here, you don't have to lie to her..." She sighed.

She and Ichigo would be in trouble for not calling ahead to let him know there was a new family member anyway. She sighed, she got the feeling this Kagome girl and Ichigo were two peas in a pod, she wasn't looking forward to having her world turned upside down again, but... if it made Ichigo, really happy, it might be worth it. She had almost regretted turning him when she found out he'd only said yes in hopes of seeing Kagome again.

But she couldn't fault him, if anything she had to applaud his control in walking away after smelling her blood with his new senses, it was hard for old ones to turn away their blood mates, but he did it at only a few weeks old. She knew she and Renji were the exception, she was pretty sure they were blood mates, they just hadn't done anything about it. Renji had found her in her brother's arms when he was turning her, Renji immediately asked to follow, she and he had woken together, and he had fed from her and she from him, but it was never said.

Maybe it was because they were brother and sister having been turned at the same time, that it made it feel wrong to do more, blood mates were suppose to turn other, or find each other after both had been turned by others. She and Renji were an oddity.

Of course it didn't help by today's standers she wasn't a woman, and he was barely a man, Renji had only been nineteen, and she herself but fifteen. Reaching out she touched his leg, "There is always hope Ichigo, find yours." she opened the door and left the room.

She walked down the hall to the bathroom where she could hear the shower running.

**Kagome**

She dressed after her tears stopped, her hair was clean and she no longer reeked of old blood, pulling on Ichigo's clothes she stopped to enjoy the feeling of being surrounded in his scent again. That had been one thing he always had laughed at when they were dating, it wouldn't matter if he was still in his scrubs that often smelled of hospitals, she would pull him into a hug and tuck her chin on his shoulder and inhale deeply just under his ear. She could always smell him, he had wondered why she always did that but she knew why, Inuyasha had been such a part of her life she had placed a large importance on smell. She knew Tora was the one for her brother by smelling her, something Souta had always found hysterical, given her history of not liking his girlfriends.

But now that her senses at least compared to Inuyasha she wasn't surprised Ichigo's scent inthralled her more then ever. Exhaling she knew it was time to face her new reality, she was about to open the door when she saw the shadow, inhaling she was able to pick out Rukia's smell.

She opened the door to find the girl watching her, she supposed if the girl was two hundred plus she should stop thinking of her as a girl, but the small size and the fact she clearly had been maybe fifteen when turned made it hard. She knew other people might have aged Rukia in their minds because of the shadows in her eyes, but she had a few shadows herself, and she had met real honest to god children with shadows. Those didn't mean much, it was how you used those experiences that counted, and she didn't know Rukia well enough to judge.

"I'm ready to start training."

Rukia raised an eyebrow, "Are you really?"

Kagome stared back at her, she had a feeling the girl would be surprised by what she was capable of. Ichigo had only seen in her in a whitest of lights, he had never been allowed to see her shadows, only her past friends. Only them. They after all knew how dark the night could be, and as it was they still had said she was the kindest soul they had known. "I am. You had better not go easy on me."

Rukia gave her another weighing glance before smiling, "Good thing I don't know how to go easy."

Rukia lead her back down the hall, past the room she had woken in, Kagome found herself wondering how big was this basement, torn between asking and waiting she was startled when Rukia stopped and threw a door wide. She found herself looking over Rukia's head into an old fashioned dojo. She looked at the fifty or more swords on the walls and found she was excited, swords had been a part of what she thought of when she thought of things that meant something to her, the idea of getting her own one had her mostly undead heart thrumming with pleasure.

Walking in she searched the walls for one that called to her, she found none. Sighing she put it aside she'd find one later, but for now she needed something to practice with. Her eyes caught on a set of ninja blades, she liked them because she liked the idea of having two blades and the small size appealed to her because she could see it being a lot easier to carry them outside the house, she could easily sling them over her back and conceal them with a sweater, or tuck them in a large tote.

Walking over she picked them up, she hefted them, the weight felt strange in her left hand, her right hand it felt almost natural but her left felt awkward. Strange. She realized even though as a child she had used her hands pretty equally, as she had gotten older she had focused on her right. She was gonna have to train hard with her left.

Twirling her right one she noticed if she so choose they interlinked becoming almost one blade, she also realized they were rather short, like Wakizashi. Not a full Samurai sword.

Hearing the rasp of a sword being drawn she whirled and found herself facing Rukia who had drawn a white sword. Rukia held her sword casually, clearly not ready to attack she knew that much from all the fights she had seen.

"Move your feet more apart."

Kagome glanced down at her feet and realized, while braced she would have a harder time moving from side to side, or just being more unpredictable. Thinking of Sesshomaru's stance she shifted.

Looking up she saw Rukia nodding to her, but she could see the caution in the other vampire's eyes. Rukia was spooked by the ease of which she had shifted, or maybe it was the fact she had shifted her swords to a sloppy guard at the sound of Rukia drawing her sword. "Attack me."

Rukia blinked and looked at her hard, "Why?"

"I want to learn quickly, I want to learn the way Inuyasha learned from his brother." Kagome had suspected for some time she was something of masochist, but this speaking without thinking it though only proved it, this was going to hurt. But she was serious, she wanted to be closer to him in this, to be the one fighting through pain, if her death was any indicator she needed to be able to handle pain, push past it like Inuyasha.

Rukia looked at her looking for something, and she saw it, launching an attack. Kagome knew on one hand she wouldn't have been able to see it before, but now that she could it was much easier to react, leaping back she swiped with one sword, Rukia stepped around it and slashed at her, she caught it on her other blade. Her grip awkward Rukia pushed hard and she could feel her wrist grinding.

Then she saw Rukia lift her foot up for a kick like Koga liked to do, stepping back the blow still connected just with she guessing about half the force it was meant to. Stumbling back she brought her swords up.

Rukia smiled and shifted her stance, holding her arm out she said, "Hold them more like this."

Kagome nodded and did her best to mimic the hold, and then shifted back into an attack stance.

**Two Weeks Later**

Kagome sat and sipped at her blood pack, healing up from the broken arm Rukia had dealt her. She had broken the girl's leg and won the fight with a blade to her throat, but she didn't like how much damage the girl was able to get in before the fact. She just was proud of how much more she could take, the first time Rukia had broken a bone the pain had blinded her, sent her reeling, and Rukia had won. The next and the next had not been much better, but she kept at it. She couldn't help but remember how her human friends could push passed such wounds and she knew she didn't dare do any less, and then had started to be easier, it didn't hurt less, the pain didn't burn any less bright, but she could get past it. Instincts let her take the moment of blinding pain and even if she couldn't see for the tears, she had her ears, she had her nose, and she was learning how to use them.

"Good."

Kagome nodded, she had learned more about things worked, Ichigo had broke law by not asking her if she would allow him to turn her, but she understood. She had met Byakuya and he honestly reminded of her a black haired vampire Sesshomaru, little things, but the length of his hair was one thing, he refused to trim it. Another was the way he walked, forceful, silent, and very predatory. The same for the way he looked at her, if his eyes hadn't been a dark chocolate brown she could have sworn, it was like looking into his eyes again. Renji amused it her, it was like he was a red haired, politer Inuyasha, he had this polite smile and he would bow but the moment you riled him it was like the moment Inuyasha lost his temper... with a lot less growling.

Rukia was funny, an odd mix of her at fifteen and Sango, Rukia was a lot harder then she had been but having learned she was a street child it wasn't hard to understand, but she could be so nice. And her temper, she really was a sight to see.

Ichigo and her though... hadn't spent much time together, Ichigo was busy working at Sakura Biosciences he had a very good job there, one of the doctors. But when he was home it was an odd and awkward mix of caring concern, and avoidance. But his eyes always had a reddish gleam around her, she didn't know what his meant but her eyes were the same if for different reasons.

Other things still bothered her, she had learned that for what ever reason she seemed to need more blood then any of the others, they ate a pint maybe two, Rukia only needed three because they fought, and Kagome always managed to hurt her even when she lost, and that was become less and less often. She just wished she was allowed out yet, she knew she could pass for a human, she had mastered the slow walk, she had learned to control the urge to snarl or hiss when surprised, and she always made she was full.

But she still wasn't allowed out.

For the first week she allowed it because she knew in a fight she would be pretty easy to beat, but now... she knew she was good because Rukia was tough and the few times she had practiced with Renji she had faired about the same, even if his European broad sword was a very different fighting style. She had gotten used to the idea her days were more like eighteen to twenty hour days, she only needed to sleep for four to six hours and Ichigo had told her some times as you got older the less you needed. He for one only needed two to four and Rukia was the same, her brother seemed to need two and half, no more, no less. But he was a stiff enough person it might have been habit alone, Renji was much the same, liking three hours.

She had spoken to Souta twice, and he asked what she was doing, she had told him training and he had been amused when she told him with swords, she wasn't surprised when he asked if he would see her soon. She had to tell him no she wasn't sure when she'd see him. He understood, she could hear it, but like he'd said, Tora wouldn't.

She sighed closing her eyes, she wanted to feel sunlight again, she wanted to see if she could handle the smell of fresh hot beating blood, she hadn't been allowed into the upper floors at all, just this huge seemingly never ending basement. She opened her eyes, Rukia had finished healing up and her own formerly broken arm was half healed, "Rukia why is it you always heal faster then me?"

Rukia smirked, "Can't guess?"

Kagome just waited knowing Rukia knew she wouldn't have asked if she could.

"Because I'm old, Master Katsumi can heal a lot of things in an instant, as long as he isn't short on blood. It's amazing to watch, the day Aizen sent his followers to attack I saw him take more then a dozen injuries in saving others that day and despite his clothes being drenched in blood you never saw the cuts for longer then a thirty seconds."

Kagome nodded, that fit... in a weird way, Vampires grew in power the older they got so it only made sense their healing abilities increased as well. Another thing to remember.

Rukia hopped to her feet in a split second of eerie grace, it still felt weird to know she wasn't just able to see it she could do that too. "I'm going out for a time, I'll be back."

Kagome nodded, as far as she could tell, not that anyone told her, Rukia was something of a spy master for the pro-human side, vanishing at random times, the way she remembered names and details... not to mention her own fighting prowess. Kagome was very sure Rukia was very important. It was just a shame that she would have to surprise Rukia by taking the time to slip out today. Rukia had left her before, for increasing periods of time, if her pattern, scattered as it was held she would be gone for three hours today.

Of course if she wasn't long she would probably be back with no one having found out.

She smiled to herself, watching Rukia leave up the stairs, one of three she was pretty sure, she even knew the code, she had woken early this morning and watched Ichigo type it in without being caught. She snickered, he really didn't know her that well some times, of course she had to admit she was mad at him at the moment, he turns her into a vampire and insists on treating her even more like glass. He hadn't admitted to her last night that he had killed two other vampires, she had asked straight out and he hadn't answered. Never mind she could smell the blood of two others and neither of them were Renji or Byakuya.

She exhaled, calming herself, what he did and said conflicted, he hated her, he wanted to hide her away, well it was too damn bad it wasn't his call. Standing she knew Rukia was long gone, rushing to her room she changed out of her blood stained clothes, and doing her hair up, put a hat and sunglasses on, and grabbing a couple hundred in cash slipped out.

Up the mysterious stairs she found herself at the back of a huge building, facing a wall, she could see trees on the other side, she was in shadow, turning around she looked up and saw a huge corporate building. Frowning she tried to understand where she was. Looking about she knew she was still in Tokyo, she had to be, the skyline was close enough to the same, it was just... she had never been near here.

Shrugging to herself, she leaped to the top of the wall and over into the park behind it. Sunlight touched her vampire skin for the first time and she was saddened to realize the soft warmth she had always loved, was gone from her. Instead, she felt sticky, awkward, the light was almost burning her, but not. It lingered on a skin and she found she hated the feeling.

Hurt, she hid herself in the shade. The others had said sunlight was not their friend, and had made it clear all of them would avoid it if they could, but she hadn't realized how much the simple joy of sunlight meant to her. Gone. She closed her eyes, this was just one more thing she would need to accept, she could help Ichigo this way and couldn't before.

She walked out into the sunlight, that was when she realized where she was, Sakura Biosciences. This was the park at the center of the grounds, built for the employees. She had just left the shadow of the main office building, the park she was in was at the center and on either side of the park stood a hospital, one for experimental medicine or technics, and the other as one of the finest new hospitals in Tokyo.

Knowing where she was she found herself tempted to run for it, but caution stopped her, Vampires worked here, they would stop an unknown vampire for sure. Keeping herself calm she walked out into the main parking lot of the public hospital and then left, tempted to call a taxi she stopped herself, she could stand a walk, the uncomfortable feeling of the sun was something she needed to become used to, she would enjoy the feeling of being among people again, and she would look for her own swords.

**An Hour and Half Later**

Kagome sighed, she had walked through three different popular shopping districts and she still hadn't found a shop with a sword that spoke her name. Or even Tanto. Or a bow. She sighed, this was just frustrating. And she wanted to be back in half an hour.

She would give herself ten more minutes and then she would call a cab, walking down a smaller side street she noted it was all small privately own stores, promising, inhaling she couldn't get over how changed her senses were, the air was stale, and rank, but she could smell blood rushing through all the bodies around herself, women, men, children, all unaware. She had only spotted two other vampires during her shopping trip and one was clerk.

Then her noise caught the sharp smell of iron, and in stronger concentration then blood. Following her noise she found herself standing in front of a smith's shop. The sign in the window announced he sold online too, and did custom orders. She walked in, she noted he or whoever the smith was had some very nice and pricy pieces on the walls. The small shelves had decorative daggers, western swords, Samurai swords, ninja throwing knives and stars. Things she wasn't sure she could even name. Her eyes caught on a small beautiful bracelet, one that concealed four knives looking at the disassembled one in silver verses the gold.

Grabbing the gold one, she slid it on her wrist and tested how easy would it be to try to draw one of tiny two inch blades. Very easy, and something that in an eye or the throat would be lethal. Putting the knife back she shook her arm making sure none of the blades would slide loose.

"Passed the test?"

She jumped, and looked at the speaker, the woman smiled, looking about forty she clearly was half American or something European, it showed in the shape of her eyes and her height. Graceful, but clearly muscled she knew she had found the maker. "Yes thank you, beautiful workmanship."

Looking at the price tag she was surprise to find it very reasonable... cheap even for the workmanship. And the fact it was real gold or at least covered. Then she saw that it said sale. "I'll take this and I'm looking for a light sword, or a set of two."

The woman nodded once, and then speaking in her soft steady voice said, "I think I have just what you're looking for."

Walking over two rows she lifted a glimmering gold set much like the ones she had in her bag. Longer by six inches or so, taking them in she noted the dog head at the point the hilt turned to blade, snarling fiercely. The other was identical, they linked together and clearly were well balanced. This set of blades weren't magical, or fangs, but she could see herself calling them hers.

She looked at the price tag, if she was buying the bracelet... she had her savings and her credit card, she could pay for it now that she wasn't paying rent, or for food... "I'll take them both."

The woman's smile turned secretive, like she knew far too much. "I thought you might."

Feeling her hair stand on end she inhaled, nothing but the smell of steel... that was when she realized this women not only did not have a heart beat, her feet made no sound, and no smell she wasn't a vampire she was some sort of ghost or shade. But here to help... unless the blades were cursed, looking at the blades and the bracelet again she sensed nothing, no magic, nor intent just blades.

She heard the woman laugh, looking up the woman smiled brightly, and Kagome noticed her clothes were strange, not right, similar to hers, jeans and a t-shirt but the fabric was wrong.

"You have noticed then. Don't worry I'm only here to help, I some times find things here aren't settled, things slip some times, I've sold things to the past and future, but I'm solidly there, I can't leave out the door till the person I'm supposed to have sold to has come and gone."

Kagome nodded slowly, she had no room to judge, time traveling and all. "I'll take both the swords and the bracelet."

The women nodded walking to the counter, "Good choices."

While paying Kagome realized she couldn't touch the women either, her card landed in the woman's hand but her fingers passed straight through her. Taking the blades she turned to leave but was disturbed by the parting comment, "Good luck with your fate!"

She understood but her skin was crawling and she found she feared what was coming that the gods would send her to a future to buy swords. That she needed the help. Getting home in plenty of time she hid the swords and the bracelet and showered, then took her normal place to greet Rukia.

Over the next three weeks she slipped out more and more, just in shorter trips, half an hour here and there, she was now good enough she had managed to get this weeks code from Rukia rather then Ichigo. That meant her stealth was getting better, just the other day she had surprised Renji, he and Rukia had just mentioned yesterday she was probably ready to get a job as a secretary. But she liked having this time to herself as the others worked for the war or in the buildings above. She could do what she wanted, practice her stances, read, but she had to admit some times her thoughts got to her, especially since even if Ichigo was being a bit nicer to her, they hadn't said what needed to be. That was when she started slipping off to see her mother, little talks, her mother never asked how she was so much faster or why she still didn't have a phone number or a clue of when Kagome would next drop in on her. Or why she always came a different way, car, walking, from behind or sometimes she just ran and popped up next to her mother.

Her mother knew when she didn't want to know.

She had spoken to her brother twice in person, but watched him more then he probably wanted to know, she was always alert to any Vampire near by but as far as she could tell no one had noticed her yet. As much as it hurt her to say Ichigo really should have suspected something, he had noticed before she didn't like to be bored and stay in one place, another little left over from her adventures, but she hadn't been pushing to get out. That should have tipped him off. But he hadn't noticed.

Shaking her head she stood up from her bed, she needed to talk to her mother again. Her mother kept telling her to come clean, corner Ichigo, but she was too frightened he would tell her to her face what he had been telling Rukia that first day. She hated being so afraid, but what would she do if he did? How could she look hundreds of years in the face without him at her side? Even now even if they didn't talk more then small talk, even if any touching was accidental, if he refused to see her in a romantic light, what would she do without even that?

Sighing she hopped the wall into the main park, escaping was so easy now she didn't think twice. Walking across the park she left using one of the other entrances. Rather then the nearest one, she didn't want to become too much of a regular. Checking her bracelet and making sure her blades were right at hand she set off.

Reaching the shrine on foot she was half way up the stairs when she realized something was wrong. Something didn't feel right. Her heart sinking she was up the stairs in a blink, and then her nose finished telling her what she thought, blood and lots of it. Rushing in the house she found her mother in the living room, pieces was the nice bit, she knew whatever else Aizen's men had done to her mother's body she had died fast. The oldest smelling and looking pool told her that, beheaded probably. She stared at her mother's head that was sitting on the top of the TV.

Part of her felt sick, she wanted to cry, she wanted to scream, she wished she could empty her stomach, she wished she could do something other then look about the room and coldly figure that this morning. Six hours ago, Aizen had sent men to kill her mother, because he knew she was alive or to try to get to Ichigo she didn't know. The part that hurt the most wasn't her mother being in pieces or even that she had died, death was part of life, no, it was the fact her mother didn't even have a chance to fight them off. It was an assassination. Plain and simple.

Souta.

That snapped her out of it, if it was to get to her, her brother would be having lunch with his wife now because she was off her early shift. She had her bracelet and her blades from Rukia but not her others. It was almost on the way to her brother's. And with that she ran as fast as she could. Didn't stop till she was at the door entering the code she ran down the stairs as fast as possible, in her room she grabbed her second set dashing back up the stairs she was half way back up them when the door swung open, Renji stood at the top with two vampires she didn't know. He blinked down at her in shock and confusion.

"Kagome?"

She growled and stopped right next to him, "Renji you have thirty seconds to help me or get the hell out of my way. They killed my mother and I know my brother is next."

He blinked at her and the two others exchanged looks. "Look Kagome you stay here and we'll take care of it."

Anger surged, they cut her mother to bits, and Renji wanted to treat her like a weakling. "Wrong answer." She ran passed him and the guy on the left surprising them and knocking them aside, without thinking she ignored the order of stop, like hell she would stop, she wanted to return the favor. Hoping they'd follow she ran as fast as she could push herself, leaping up the three floors she then ran down the hall towards her brother's home. She could already smell the blood.

Slamming the door open and off it's hinges she surprised the four in the room, there had been a fifth, him. She knew that smell, the vampire that killed her was behind her family's murders. Souta was dead on the floor, but she didn't smell Tora. Thank god. She and the baby were alive. Blood all over the walls told her they had played with Souta; he'd had tried to fight and been tossed around like a rag doll, the broken glass, the table everything said he had fought tooth and nail. She reached into her bag and drew both her connected swords, dog blades in her right and the black in her left she charged, they scattered, the one holding Souta's arm faced her bloodlust first, he was holding Souta's she take his. The clean slice got him screaming, one of the others came at her from behind, his eyes were black, not red but black, of the four she judged him to be the oldest, the best fighter too.

She bounced off the wall having taken the boot to the chest, but the blood on his cheek and the slice across another's back was worth it. The one who's arm she had cut off was regrowing it, or so it seemed, but it seemed like it would take time he didn't have, he was bleeding out. She lunged and stabbed him through the chest, toppling him. Ducking the blade of one of the other two babies, she lashed out with her other hand and landed a deeper cut across his hip.

Evil satisfaction burned deep in her heart, they killed her brother and mother, she'd tear them apart. But she wanted the man who killed her too, he had been here and the Shrine... she needed one of the youngest to survive.

Feeling a claw skim her shoulder she spun and kicked out, catching the other baby; the one with the cut back he flew into a wall, denting it. Using her blade she finished him by mostly severing his head, leaving her with leader and the baby with the hurt hip. The master was grinning darkly, and then drew a long Tanto, curved oddly. Almost like an english sickle but not. He cut at her and she caught in one set of blades, his claws slapped at her face but she stabbed at his chest with her other hand full of her dog blades. He leaped back. The baby charged his own knife ready but she just lashed out deeply cutting his arm, and his thigh, dropping him a kick to the head, he was stunned and the leader was on her, pinning her arms. She head butted him and then brought her knee up, knocking him clear of her even if she missed her target.

Leaping quickly she missed severing his head, but the swords bit deeply into his chest, he failed to get up and she finished him. Standing there for a second she realized the kick had done a lot more damage then she had realized, ignoring how badly hurt she was, she turned to the baby licking at the blood on the floor trying to heal she knelt down and tasted the blood of the leader, it was blood and not bad. And few finger swipes later the baby was starting to heal and was starting to watch her, waiting for her to finish him.

Running her fingers through the blood and licking them quietly clean seemed to scare this little baby. Five minutes later he finally spoke scared but mostly healed. "What are you waiting for?"

"For you to ask, I want you to go back and tell Aizen;" her mind raced why had she said Aizen? Because it only made sense, no one knew who Aizen was, several claimed to be him but wouldn't it be easier for your most loyal followers to pretend to be you while you played second in command? And the blood she had just eaten was telling her the brown hair man was second in command, no name, just called the left hand, making fun of Christians she was betting. "I will be the hand that kills him."

He looked scared, "But I don't know him."

She smiled she knew how well people like this took failure, they'd kill him for her. "I don't care you tell the Left Hand and he'll get the message." The baby looked at her one more time before going to the window and leaping out of it. Him gone she slumped back and let the broken ribs heal. The aching in her arm told her she had been fighting someone much stronger then her, only her anger had let her beat him. The one of the men with Renji and Renji appeared in the door way, they took in the smeared walls, the body parts that had been her loving brother, and her sitting covered in blood on the floor no doubt looking miserable.

Renji walked in looking sympathetic he knelt next to her, "What happened Kagome?"

She sighed and thought it over, she needed to start at the beginning, "I've been sneaking out for some time, getting the codes wasn't hard, first I bought some swords for myself, then to see my mom and brother. I don't think I was ever spotted, but I guess I messed up..." she frowned that didn't seem right at all, she had been very careful.

"Kagome?"

The other vampire was hanging up and she realized he had been calling the police. That had to be it, they hadn't known she would be the one to find Souta and her mother, her body hadn't been found so Aizen or possibly more correctly the left hand had figured she had been turned or that Ichigo had hidden her away saving her life, either way he had wanted to make a scene. "That's not right at all I didn't mess up, they knew I had been turned or was still alive. They wanted to draw Ichigo out."

She laughed, and got up to look out the window. She could see an open window across the way in another apartment building, most would think nothing of it, but she could guess. Something about the fact the windows weren't suppose to open like that, they had to be taken apart for it to be that open. It had been a trap for Ichigo, her mother was suppose to be found earlier and be on the news so Ichigo would come for her brother and walk into a trap but since she had, the backup went off to report and her baby messenger wasn't needed. She would kill him, she really would. Slowly, and she'd drink every last drop of his... no she didn't want to taste him at all, something like him would be too tainted, too gross to taste.

"Kagome I understand today has been trying but we need to insure that Vampires aren't connected to this, two vampires will be here in three minutes, they will say you came to say goodbye to your brother but instead they found this. The story is you've been in protective custody because you are a witness in an investigation, the men you will testify against are behind this and so the police will be forced to hand the case over, understand?"

Kagome turned away from the window to look at the man who had been giving her the instructions, black hair nondescript looks, the mustache was a bit much, but she had seen stupider looks, sadly it almost worked for him, the only thing that stopped him from being truly bland was he was built and the mustache. "You need to understand something, I don't care how we keep this secret but you will never dictate to me in such a loud bossy voice, I am angry and to be honest murderous. I have lost my mother and my brother, I frankly am holding my self together by a string, but crying is not what I would do should I snap, I would go and kill everyone in the way of stopping me from getting to this left hand and Aizen then I would kill them slowly. I had a friend once who lost her whole family she went to the ends of the earth to get justice and I won't do any less."

She turned back to the open window and felt the tears start, she wanted to kill them, but at the same time she did want to rant and wail, it wasn't fair. Why couldn't she have just died? Then they would have left Souta and mama alone. They would have had no reason to go after them. Why did the gods do this to her? Of course she had seen Sango ask the same thing her answer had always been the gods rarely act personally; The only person guilty was Naraku, in this case the name was Aizen but the evil was the same. Cruel, heartless and sadistic.

She would tell herself be strong like Sango but she had probably been the one to see her at her weakest, the tears, the sobs, Inuyasha had probably known but at the same time he didn't have to hug her or watch her cry. The thing that made Sango strong other then her sheer ability to take punishment was the fact she could cry, sob hopelessly and then stop. Just stop, pull it together for another week or two.

Kagome was pretty sure she couldn't hold it together that long, if she lost it she was out of the arena. She wiped her face clean and turned back to find Renji, her swords that she had set down and the bossy guy were gone. But the two men she had been told were coming were there, both stony faced and probably old, they seemed old in the way they took care to shift normally like people did and they were good with the breathing. "So what are your names since I'll need to know them for the fiction..."

The left one with a sideways glance at his friend who had a strange set of scars on his face said, "Kira Izuru and he's Shuhei Hisagi, the man who left with Renji is Tetsuzaemon Iba, I think I heard you call him bossy."

Kagome sighed, speaking out of turn again, stressed or not, she had been rude. "Thank you, Higurashi Kagome if you don't already know. He," she pointed at Souta's body, "was my brother, and my mother is dead but that hasn't been reported. We will need to find my brother's wife and hide her away, she's pregnant and I hate to think what they'd do to her and the baby."

She noted Izuru paled at the mention of the sister-in-law being pregnant. She was guessing he had seen or at least could picture what would happen. Hisagi just nodded and spoke up, "Renji is going to pick her up from work."

She nodded back, part of her feeling relieved she wasn't dead too. The rest of her was a mix of angry and sad, she was just trying to focus on the anger. Then she heard loud thudding footsteps coming down the hall, the police were coming it was show time.

**10:56 p.m.**

That night she was sitting in her room, she felt a bit like she was grounded because the others were talking down the hall just far enough away she couldn't make out what they were saying but at the same time she could hear the fact they were talking. Ichigo still sounded pissed, he had a bit of a shock when he saw her angry face, he had come over seeming to expect her to be in tears or weak, he probably didn't realize it but he had hit her where it hurt when he asked wasn't she upset. She was, she just also knew when she broke down she wouldn't be getting back up again. His second reaction to yell at her for sneaking out hadn't helped, she had snapped at him. She probably had hit him where it hurt too, after she had said it Rukia watched him walk away before telling her Ichigo lost his father and Yuzu, Karin had been out of town at the time and that was the only thing that had saved her.

She was sorry she had said it but she didn't know, but at the same time... She was so damn angry with him, he refused to talk to her, to tell her stuff like this. Of course she was gonna hurt him, just like he hurt her.

She realized the voices had stopped, standing and turning to face the door a second later there was a knock, she walked over and opened it, Byakuya was standing there his face it's normal bland politeness. He spoke and asking to come in and she realized both Renji and Rukia were there Ichigo wasn't. Whatever they were about to tell her, Ichigo didn't agree with.

Stepping back they followed her in, it was funny to think no one would have seen that, they moved so fast. Once inside Byakuya began to talk sternly, he sounded like Miroku when she was being a child, of course she had been careful that he was the one who saw her like that. Sango saw her cry and she had tried to show Inuyasha the best of her, that hadn't worked.

"Clearly leaving you alone for so long was a mistake, but one we will not make again, you got lucky today, since you clearly desire revenge we will step up your training, and give you a job upstairs, a secretary is what we think will work best. You having no experience in the medical field."

Kagome bit her lip but said nothing, it was true she had no record of anything but a first aid course, the fact she had probably skimmed most college level texts meant nothing except on the field of battle. She could probably study just a bit and become a paramedic very quickly. That was something for later.

"You will become my second secretary the one who answers the phone and runs files about in the office, clear?"

She choked, that was a high level job, but it also screamed hard work and no rest along with no respect. Realized they were looking at her, she said "I don't have much choice as much trouble as I got in today do I?"

As one the three nodded Byakuya and Renji left but Rukia sat down on her bed her eyes focused on the floor, but she looked thoughtful. Her first words were not expected however, "Kagome you disobeyed not one, but four orders today, and all of them were of the family bloodline. You have always nodded and moved on with every word any of us have ever said, you have never been surprised by anything we have ever told you about being a vampire, is there a reason for all of this?"

Kagome frowned, she trusted the girl a bit more then she had when Rukia first asked about Inuyasha, but she had lied once admitting it was a lie was not what she wanted to do but how could she say anything close to the truth? "Rukia... my life has not been normal since I was fifteen and met Inuyasha, as weird as things got afterwards, vampires are surprisingly easy to understand. Besides I had a friend who went through a phase where she was obsessed with vampires, the rest of us got dragged along for the ride."

Rukia looked at her thoughtfully, "Would you say under extreme circumstances you are capable of awesome and powerful things?"

Kagome didn't think about it, "Yes."

Rukia looked at her a curious look in her eye, "You've killed before haven't you?"

"Yes."

Rukia's face slowly broke into a dark smile, "I always wondered why Ichigo spoke of you like a saint, I always wondered if you were so kind, so loving why had you not found someone safer then Ichigo, someone your equal. But now I see I had it wrong, you did. You picked someone as generous as you can be in your best moments, and you picked someone as violent and ruthless as you can be."

Kagome found there was nothing to say in that, Rukia had said it all, Ichigo could be kind and sweet and thoughtful, he also had a temper and was very good at inflicting pain. He had the temperament to stand up to her in a way Inuyasha never could, he also could match her for mercy. Mercy was never something Inuyasha understood because no one had ever shown it to him, his brother, his lover, everyone in his life who should have taught him these things failed too.

Rukia stood, "Kagome you want to fix things with Ichigo, show him, tell him, explain to him in every way you can that you don't care what he's done without you, just show him he doesn't have to be alone in this any more."

With that Rukia stood and left the room quickly, the door a soft click behind her.

Kagome found herself slowly walking back to her bed to sit down, was that what was wrong between her and Ichigo? All those little white lies? All the moments she held her tongue and didn't say anything? She was mad at him for treating her like a weakling, for treating her like she was helpless, but was it all her fault for not telling him why she could hold her ground? If she had told him of some of her adventures in some edited fashion would he have continued to see her despite being a vampire? Or told her he might come back one day?

She could almost see it, her pulling him aside and saying, _"Ichigo you've seen death, you've seen violet deaths, you've seen more then most your age can say, but I can tell you here and now I've seen more then you. I'd seen more then you at fifteen. At fifteen I had helped buried more then a hundred people in one day, at fifteen I had almost died so many times I couldn't count them. I had patched friends up who had taken wounds that should have killed them. I've seen a beating heart in someone's chest. I've been up to my elbows in blood trying to save a life, and I have been covered in blood because I was ending them. I have seen so many dark and deadly things I could tell you things you would never believe. I've __been kidnapped and used against friends before. I have been poisoned, bitten, stabbed, shot, pretty much every conceivable, possible way of dying is something I have faced head on. So stop asking me to hide, stop telling me I am too weak, and trust me when I say I can take it."_

She flopped back on the bed and promised herself tomorrow after work, after he was back she would talk to him.


	2. Chapter 2

**X-Ing**

**Disclaimer: I own neither Bleach nor Inuyasha, and all I have to say is I'm obsessed with ****Ichigo and Kagome pairings.**

**Chapter Two**

**8:34 a.m.**

Kagome had been told at four in the morning plans had been changed she wouldn't start working today she had to calm her sister in law down. And then after how ever long that took she would spar with one of the guys from yesterday they didn't know which one yet.

Tora walked in, her eyes were red, her belly bigger then the last time she saw her, and she was stalking furiously across the room. Stopping only two feet away she put her hands on her hips and glaring, her heart beating hard and fast, asked: "Why?"

Kagome felt her heart break a little, "Why what?"

"Why everything?!" her voice rose, "Why did they kill my husband?! Why your mother? Why did..." her voice broke. "Why tear them apart?"

Closing her eyes, Kagome hid the red tinted tears and the odd red-violet-blue of her eyes, "Because I saw something I wasn't suppose to."

"WHAT COULD YOU HAVE SEEN THAT WOULD LEAD TO THAT?!"

Kagome could smell the tears, she could hear Tora's heart beating out it's distress, she could even hear the baby's heart beat beating louder feeling it's mother's distress. "I am friends with the wrong person, and I didn't die quietly."

"_I died almost silently." _she didn't dare think of saying that aloud. "I saw too much, but they didn't know I was alive until yesterday, they did that thinking my friend would be watching trying to make up for failing in protecting me."

Kagome heard the hand coming but let it hit her face. She let her head turn a bit, but the hand barely stung, the smell of tears got stronger.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU WARN US?!" The newest question was seemingly a sob with words.

"Because as far as I knew the people who did this thought I was dead. With me dead why would they go after you?"

Tora tried to stay strong, but very quickly she leaned forward grabbing her in hug, and she just sobbed louder. Kagome guided her to a chair and then tried to sooth Tora while fighting her own sadness and her anger. Aizen was going to die by her hands. He was going to hell.

**9:12 p.m.**

Kagome sat in her room, she had fought Byakuya for the first time, his style was so very different then the other two the first two rounds he beat her before she had broken down his style enough to beat him. Rukia and Renji hadn't believed their eyes the first time she beat him, but when she did it a second time... she wanted to feel proud but she couldn't everything she felt was negative. She was angry, she hated Aizen, she was sad because her involvement got her family killed, and she was so so lonely.

The knock on her door broke her revery, inhaling she was surprised, it was Ichigo. "Come in."

Ichigo walked in, his shoulders were slumped, and his face looked dead tired. No pun intended. His red-yellow eyes met hers for split second before flickering back to the floor. He sat in the chair in her room, she let the silence hang. She wasn't sure what to say, this wasn't a mood of his she was familiar with.

The minutes dragged on before he broke it, his tone was defeated. "Kagome why did you go out alone? if you had asked I would have taken you out."

Kagome was surprised that was what he asked, she had expected a talking to, anger like she saw the night before, but this melancholy was strange. "Would you have really? You've avoided me when at all possible, you don't talk to me, tell me what's going on. I was under the impression you and the others would just keep me down here in the dark like a pet, a pat on the head, food, a kind word. But you weren't treating me like a person. I know you think I can't handle what's out there but if you would listen if you would give me a chance, I can prove I can."

Ichigo sighed and his head tilted backwards till she couldn't see his eyes. "I suppose I deserve that."

Kagome said nothing her heart hurt, what happened to the times of free flowing conversation? The sharing of thoughts just running through their heads?

"I admit Kagome it's my fault we were ignoring you, I didn't want you exposed. I know Rukia told you Yuzu and my dad died. Karin isn't speaking to me. She was furious I couldn't tell her what happened, what I was into, never mind you know as well as I do I couldn't. I haven't seen her in two years. After you were almost killed for just being seen speaking to me, I didn't want anyone to know you were still around, he hurt you while you were human, what could happen to you because you have a vampire's constitution gives me nightmares. I've found bodies of people on our side that have been captured, I won't say any more but the idea of it being you that was found..."

Kagome inhaled feeling the spike dig deeper in her chest, she loved him, but he hurt her so easily. She realized she was smelling blood, looking sharply at Ichigo she saw the tiny spot on the chair, Ichigo was crying. So it seemed the danger went both ways. She hurt him just as easily. "Ichigo, I understand that you thought you were protecting me, but you need to understand, I have never stood back. I have always fought to the best of my ability, if you're so worried about the trouble I'd find you should have stayed close and been there to help get me out when I was in too deep. I haven't told you things about my past, I'm not ever sure I'll tell you everything ever, some things hurt too much to speak of. But from the day I turned fifteen I knew I was marked for dangerous things. I have been poisoned, stabbed, shot at, bitten, scratched, betrayed, and heart broken. I can handle vampires, hiding things from me will only make it worse."

Kagome inhaled deeply and realized she was smelling more blood. Starting to become worried she was distracted when Ichigo sighed. "Kagome I don't care. I will protect you even if you don't like it. I will do whatever I have too, to keep you safe."

He inhaled again, this time Kagome noticed the rasp. Sitting up she noticed the stain growing on the arm of the chair. Ichigo was bleeding, and not just a little. "Ichigo what have you been doing?"

His head rolled over so he could look at her, she was alarmed to note his eyes were glazed and out of focus. "I told you I won't let anyone hurt you..."

"What have you been doing?"

"I went hunting, four of them thought they could take me. Stupid fuckers. One of them got lucky. Or he had a lucky moment before I dusted the bastard."

"You went alone?" She was alarmed, why had he done that?

"Of course I'm only to be sent out on special missions, in a group. I can't just go out." He sounded bitter and vaguely out of it. Of course as much blood as he was loosing... She needed to get him food. But she was curious... "Why can't you go out alone?"

"I'm so powerful, and so young, there have been concerns that Aizen would overpower me with numbers, and I would give up important information, or... Something. I don't.. I don't know they just want me to fight it their way."

His breathing was getting worse, she stood, "Let me go get you help."

He grabbed her arm on her way past. "No."

"You're seriously injured and need blood."

"Blood, no one else."

"You need..."

Ichigo cut her off, "No one else, just blood they'll kick my ass otherwise."

She gave in, he would heal with enough blood. "Okay." He dropped her arm and she dashed out and got several pints, he would need them. Coming back in to her room she knew the chair would have to go otherwise the others would find out if only because of the smell. Pouring the blood into a cup she helped Ichigo drink, she found herself mildly amazed he'd made it to her room and kept talking he should have passed out, or... died. She didn't like that thought. "Next time you go out take me with you I'll watch your back."

Ichigo finished the cup and looked up at her, his eyes still red-yellow, "No."

"I can fight, and I'll watch your back."

"No."

"Ichigo if you can sneak out so can I."

"Not if I tell everyone you're planning to." He threatened.

"I'll tell them about you." She returned.

"With what proof? You have a history, I don't."

"If you're going to do that I'll just go get Rukia right now." Three things happened at once, Ichigo growled no and yanked her back towards him, she hit his chest. And in that moment the delicious scent she had been ignoring or trying to ignore hit all her senses at once, his firm chest, his smell, the fresh blood on his mouth. She wasn't the only one who lost it either, Ichigo inhaled and she could feel a slight growl rumble in his chest, then he sunk his fangs into her neck.

The sharp pain startled her, but then the bliss that slunk through her veins even more so, but her body relaxed and she sunk into his embrace, feeling boneless she realized her nose had come to rest in the crook of his neck. She couldn't help herself she started kissing his neck, she loved him so damn much. Then she made the mistake of inhaling, instinct attacked, fangs out she bit him. The first taste of his blood sent her soaring. The relaxed limpness left her and she gripped him as tightly as he held her. She knew if one of them were human they would be in pain or dead, but he tasted so sweet. Then he did something she didn't understand, but it hurt and she fell back in his arms; looking up at him she could see her blood smeared about his lips and like all cliché pictures a drop had escaped down his chin, his eyes still gold-yellow-red he blinked down at her. Her own fang marks had left bloody smears on his neck, limp she found she was growing sleepy, like she hadn't since the change, her eyes was drifting closed when she saw something that shown in his hand.

"Sorry Kagome."

**Rukia**

She had woken at her normal two am wake up time, her night before had been busy, giving her new information to her brother she then had to repeat it half a dozen other times, and then listen to a few arguments about what it meant, before she was dismissed. Showering had been the first thing she did followed by food, then she went to sleep, now at almost three she noticed the strong smell of Ichigo's blood coming from Kagome's room, half formed thoughts of an attack at their base struck, she threw the door open. Eyes flying about the room she found Ichigo laying on Kagome's bed watching her sleep. She noted the chair was soaked with blood and had been what she had smelled.

Looking at him she could see he was thinking hard, he had glared at her for bursting in but then he went back to staring at Kagome's face... Kagome should be up, she wasn't a heavy sleeper, she had good instincts, so why wasn't she up? Or at least reacting to her presence?

Knowing Ichigo she had to ask, "What did you do?"

With a glare he looked back up at her, "Lost control, like an idiot."

She waited a second longer and he went on, "Bite her, the worse part is she bit me back."

She closed her eyes and groaned, "So, what did she say when she realized what you had done?"

Ichigo looked at her, and with a sigh said, "She didn't, I dosed her with nightshade."

"Damn it! Are you stupid or what? She doesn't remember the change, this was her first bite. How will she know how to deal with the after effects?!"

"Why do you think I dosed her?!" Ichigo closed his eyes and heaved a deep breath, hiding that his brown eyes were taking on hints of red and yellow on. "Rukia once I realized I lost control and she was biting me back I panicked, we were in love. And I like to think still love each other, it's gonna be two or three times worse then normal."

Rukia nodded slowly, he was probably right, Kagome would be dealing with feed back from Ichigo, her own experience with feed back from Kagome had been rather stilted, she had realized the girl was awake, she had noticed a few other things. But unlike her connection with Ichigo after the change she hadn't felt a connection to the girl, she thought it was because Ichigo started but didn't finish, but now having watched the girl adjust... she wondered if it wasn't something else.

**Kagome**

Kagome dreamed of things that made no sense, she had orange hair, she was walking home in the rain with her mother who had hair like hers, she was coming home from a dojo. She knew however she didn't have orange hair, her mother didn't have orange hair, and she had never gone to a dojo and she'd never met anyone named Tatsuki.

Then a girl standing on the edge of the river started to fall and she dashed forward, running as hard as she could trying to grab her, but her hand went right through her. Falling she felt something warm hit her rolling her over, feeling rain hitting her face she opened her eyes and found her beautiful mother laying there covered in blood.

Then the feelings of the rain, the grief building in her chest, the cold touch of despair were falling away, the scene in her head faded to black and just before she woke a deep echoing voice that might have been a man or a woman said: there is always a cost.

Her eyes flew open and she found she was laying on her bed, the lingering scent of Ichigo in the air, on her bed, on her body. The taint of blood was still there, but the memories of last night explained all of that. But the next time she saw Ichigo she was slapping him, how dare he kiss her, well bite her senseless and then knock her her out rather then talk to her about it!

The door opened and Rukia walked in, seeing she was awake Rukia looked surprised before smirking at her, "So how did talking to him go?"

Kagome gritted her teeth, clearly Rukia had a clue about what had happened and thought it was funny. "It went badly. The next time I see him I'm slugging him."

Rukia frowned, "I don't understand what you mean by 'slugging him'?"

"Punching him out."

Rukia laughed at that, "He'd deserve it. He's already left for work, and you have work in an hour and half I didn't think you'd wake for another half an hour at the earliest... But you've proved me wrong again."

Kagome nodded and forced herself up right, her head spun a little, but she was up. Rukia handed her a packet of blood and Kagome dug in, breakfast in bed how nice of Rukia. Rukia sat in the chair, a new chair, not drenched in blood she noted. And seemed nervous.

"What?"

Rukia snorted to herself, "I don't think anyone ever thought to tell you, but feeding on another vampire has side effects, how well you know them, the blood line, their age and yours all effect what happens. The feeding as you found out last night feels heavenly, a lot of old old timers prefer it to... normal... copulation."

Kagome frowned, Rukia was going some where with this and she had drank another vampire's blood before she just hadn't shared what she had seen so... no one knew? But why was blood sharing such a big deal? Other then a vulnerability, an enemy could find things out like she had but... Where was Rukia going with this?

"Most often it's ghost sensations, some times it's surges of emotions, some times you feel what the other person is feeling at the time their feeling it. That one is most common when it's lovers. And rarely it's memories. So if you feel strange today you now know why. So don't freak out or... say anything stupid to Byakuya or Katsumi."

Kagome smirked. "It's me, what are you worried about?"

"That's why I'm worried."

Kagome nodded not having an answer for that and got up to shower and change for work. Rukia had just told her seeing memories were rare but both times she had shared blood with a vampire she had seen something... Going back to the unpleasant implication she wasn't a normal vampire, able to throw orders, see memories, needs more blood.. and more she was sure, there was where she got her sword and the fact the memories she had gotten from Ichigo didn't make sense. His mother had died when he was fifteen of cancer, not as a small child and not murdered before his eyes. Not to mention what was with the girl thing?

And the voice at the end...

What cost?

Shivering she climbed from the shower, drying herself briskly she dropped the towel and quickly put her underwear on, then the hose, then the pale lavender pencil skirt, and the soft silky black bow blouse. Looking in the mirror she was pleased with her appearance. Her blue eyes gleamed under the lights, and her wet hair shone with a gleam, and her cheeks were flushed from breakfast, applying make up with a light hand she declared herself done, she had some time to kill before going in at seven, it was only six.

Now that she knew she had an hour she found herself feeling tired, the nightshade Ichigo had given her hadn't totally worn off yet, she wandered back to her room, she could sit down, she'd eaten, showered, and was dressed a little nap wouldn't hurt. Sitting down in her new chair her eyes fell closed and quickly she found herself dreaming again.

She was in a classroom wearing a gray uniform, people she knew but didn't greeted her, Tatsuki, Chad, Orihime, Ishida, Keigo, Mizuiro. She knew them by name, had met almost all of them when she had gone for the summer job, but this time they seemed much younger, high school age. She had orange hair again.

Class started and then an eerie scream broke the drone of the teacher, Ms. Ochi, her body that she was realizing was Ichigo's dashed off, towards the scream. Determination and a word filling her; 'hollow'.

"Kagome!"

She sat up and realized Rukia was calling her, shaking her head she forced herself to wake up and mentally she locked all of the memories that didn't make sense away, she had job to work on in … Six minutes. "Crap!"

Leaping from the chair she grabbed the metallic pumps Rukia helped her pick and grabbed her bag, and ran from her room. Almost running into Rukia at the end of the hall Rukia moved out of the way and followed her to the door, Kagome waited for Rukia to enter the new first double coded door, done just for her. Up the stairs she ran, stopping at the second door Rukia dialed, while she put her heels on, that done she walked out, hopped the wall and calmly but quickly crossed the grounds to get to the office she would be working in. Stepping through the doors she'd never entered before she walked to the front desk and asked for directions from the guard.

"Name?"

"Kagome Higurashi."

"Twelfth floor, ask for Ms. Arisawa"

Kagome nodded, that name felt like it should mean something to her, walking to the elevator she stared at it before deciding on the stairs, might have been crazy if she were human like the guard especially since she was wearing two and half inch heels but she was a vampire. There were cameras on the doors but none in the stairwell- she wondered why, not. Taking a deep breath and listening she knew the stairwell to be empty, so she ran up the stairs. In seconds like this, while running she realized why Inuyasha had run everywhere when possible, running like this was like flying. It was a total high. Reaching the twelfth floor in about a minute, she knew she could have gone faster but had wanted to make sure she wouldn't damage the stairs, smoothing her hair, fixing her skirt that had ridden up she stepped through the door.

It was a normal office, she could see work spaces and only a few in them, a deep breath told her almost empty and all but a few of the dozen or so people on the floor were vampires at the moment, walking to the front desk she smiled at the woman who looked up at her, the face gave her harsh jolt, she knew this woman. Tatsuki, older but not much, and she took a deep breath and used her ears, a vampire.

A flash of the memories of the school frozen her, but she smiled and yanked her mind back to the present, "Tatsuki?"

The woman frowned before her face cleared, "Hey you were that girl Ichigo brought to that dinner a few years ago."

Kagome nodded, "Yeah, when were you turned?"

Tatsuki frowned, a faint red gleam taking hold in her eyes. "The same time Ichigo's family was attacked, I wasn't related and was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but they didn't totally kill me so I was turned when I said I wanted to fight back."

Kagome ignored the goose bumps trekking up and down her arms. "What happened to everyone else then?"

Tatsuki scowled, "Killed or hidden, that Aizen bastard did his research."

Kagome now was actually frightened, why had she seen the memories of the classroom that didn't make sense? And why was everyone in it dead? What was going on? Was her half premonition right and some how the Kami were planning to use her again? Shaking it off, she nodded and moved on to why she was here, "I was told to ask for Ms. Arisawa."

Tatsuki laughed, "That's me."

Kagome flushed. "Oh. Sorry I didn't remember your last name."

"Hey it's cool if you remembered me it was only because Ichigo talked about me and he would have called me Tatsuki."

Kagome nodded but knew the way Ichigo talked about her and what Tatsuki meant were two different things. Tatsuki stood and grabbed a few files, "So if you're the new aide I'm suppose to teach, here's how it goes; The twelfth floor this one, is all filing, records, plans everything, the people on this floor take calls for files, any phone call for information comes here. The floors below are more call centers a cafeteria, patient out information, and the day to day running. Above is board meetings, offices for anyone who has to handle more the basic paperwork like patient filing and whatever. Kuchiki-sama is top floor, thats where most the time we'll be, we get him anything he needs from down here, take phone calls, messages, do whatever he can't do himself."

Kagome nodded and followed Tatsuki in the elevator. Tatsuki pressed the fifteenth floor button, highest number there was Kagome noted. Then her teacher for the day asked, "Any questions?"

"Other then why they decided why I should do this job? No."

Tatsuki snickered as the doors opened, "I know what you mean I got this job because Ichigo remembered I have a talent for organization, and the fact I am a black belt in two disciplines. I'm kinda the first bodyguard for Kuchiki-sama, Renji does his job but here in the office if they attacked this much of a strong hold, the more people between them and Byakuya the better."

"So am I the same?"

"If it comes down to it and you do it yeah, other wise you're gonna be my legs for errands I can't do or to be ready when I have to go do something."

Kagome nodded her first thoughts having been correct, lots of work not much respect. Then her eyes caught on a large portrait on the wall, her mouth fell open and she gasped, that face... It looked a hell of a lot like Sesshomaru's. Only black short hair... Brown contacts and no stripes or moon... Feeling her chest heaving. She stared as she walked closer, noticing smaller ones with a placard above them saying family legacy she looked at them closely.

Three others sat there, the first was Sesshomaru's human double, no marks, but silver hair tied back in ponytail, and his eyes in the black and white photo could have been yellow or a light brown. The next was color but very old, the colors blurred and faded, silver hair cut much shorter then the first still tied back and his eyes were clearly yellow. A fist clenched in her gut, cold over took her limbs and she almost took no notice of Tatsuki asking her what was wrong louder and louder.

The third was color and for the first time Sesshomaru's hair was black but his eyes were still a telling yellow. Then the current one. Sesshomaru was a vampire and that could only mean she had made them, of course he was much older then vampires, he had been born years and years before as a demon but her wish for demons to appreciate humans more had created monsters.

She fell to the floor, her knees buckling, this, all of this was her fault. It was no wonder she had bought swords from the future and been pulled into this, she had made this, she had done this. Breathing hard the only thing she could think was she needed to see Sesshomaru. Now. Looking up at Tatsuki she ignored the girl's frantic questions, "Take me to Sesshomaru."

Tatsuki frowned, her expression odd, and she stuttered, "I don'ttt knooow... whoo that is."

"Katsumi!"

Tatsuki slowly shook her head back and forth, "I don'ttt knoow whereee."

"Byakuya is in right?" Kagome knew her tone was sharp, desperate even.

Tatsuki nodded, her head jerking like a puppet's, Kagome stood questions filling her, she need to see him to talk to him. She need answers. Kagome strode over to the door and yanked it open finding Byakuya and Renji in there. "Take me to Sesshomaru!"

Byakuya went stiff, Renji looked frightened, while Byakuya stood Renji asked her: "Where did you hear that name?"

His words were stilted, reminding her vaguely of Tatsuki's stutter, Byakuya hadn't said anything yet but his face was thunderous, and his movements jerky. She had given an order... Mother of Vampires, Queen of the Damned, that was her. She may have only been a vampire for close to two months, but she had noticed she didn't fit the mold and now she knew why. "I know that name because I know the man. Now Byakuya take me to him. Quickly."

Byakuya jerked fighting the order, and she didn't blame him, he had no clue what was going on, he at least was loyal to the old dog. But soon her order sunk in enough Byakuya was walking smoothly, over to the far wall that had a door. Probably to a privet bath, but he didn't go to the door he went to the wall, moving the wall sized painting there was a coded door. Byakuya typed it in and the elevator doors opened. Stepping in with him she ignored Tatsuki standing at the far doorway looking lost, Renji went to join them and without remorse she ordered him to stay. He was fighting the order even as the doors closed, they went down two floors and the doors opened onto a small square room, defensible she supposed. Each side of the square had a door, bedroom, bathroom, office and elevator. Or so she guessed.

Byakuya went to the door on the left wall, opening the door he held the door for her, his expression said this was more sarcastic then politeness but she stepped through anyway. Seeing the man sitting on the other side of the desk reading something on his laptop Kagome felt her knees give out, she fell to the floor. Shock freezing her. She knew, but seeing it. She couldn't believe it. She denied it. Sesshomaru wasn't sitting there, on a laptop, she hadn't created Vampires leading to the misery of so so many herself included.

"I said what?!" He looked up and frowned looking at her.

She didn't blame him, she had done some growing up in the last ten years. Besides she hadn't answered him the first three times. She could see him trying to remember why he thought he knew her face, then he inhaled deeply and she figured now he'd know her, having been a dog and all he would have probably learned to recognize her scent. His eyes closed and he took a deeper breath.

Then his eyes snapped open, and shock painted it's self across his face.

He knew her. "Long time no see right Sesshomaru?"

He was up and walked around the desk almost too fast for her to follow, even now. His eyes were glowing a sinister red. "How is that possible?"

Kagome snickered, "I would have thought Inuyasha would have told you."

"The half breed never told me more then you went home!"

Kagome nodded, "Well short answer my home was now, the future. So five hundred and plus years later here I am and here you are. Now tell me how did you become a vampire?!" She ignored the desperate sound in her voice.

He scowled at her and went to ignore her but his voice betrayed him, choking he spluttered and then gasped, "What did you do?"

Kagome laughed, she knew it sounded maniacal, she felt a little crazy, so of course her laugh echoed it. "I made this happen best as I can figure, you have to listen to bloodline and I made you all. I am the mother of vampires."

He scowled, his face angry, and his hand snapped out and grabbed her by the throat, he was falling into old habits she saw. Choking she rasped out, "Put me down!"

It took half a minute but his arm was trembling and he slowly lowered her and she found herself back on her feet, her legs still weak and wanting to give way. Standing she smirked, feeling wildly out of balance, she had made vampires. She had made vampires. "What happened after I wished on the jewel?"

Sesshomaru ground his teeth she could hear it but he gave in, his mouth falling open. "The first day nothing seemed wrong and for the next week I didn't notice anything but the fact there were fewer and fewer base demons. The week after I grew hungrier and hungrier. I noticed my moon and stripes fading, I... noticed being about Rin made it worse so I kept her as far from me as possible. I grew concerned and wondered if other demons were feeling it. Other then my group, Jaken was ill- Ah-Uh was weak as well, I found the half-breed being guarded by the Monk and Demon Slayer. Being in the human village was agony, I took my half brother and went into the forest leaving Rin there. Three days later travelers had the misfortune to cross our path. They died but we soon had a clue of what we were facing. I took to drinking animal's blood twice a day, the bastard followed my example and we split paths, I took Rin again and wandered. Demons everywhere had become human, died, or become like us, I in the early days took to killing those that had gone insane, and offered rules to those willing to listen."

Kagome snorted, in other words he became king of the vampires. He gave them law and order, and was so strong none could best him.

"I took Rin back to the Monk and Demon Slayer and left her there for a few years, when I came back she and... Inuyasha had fallen in love."

Kagome blinked, that was a surprise, Rin and Inuyasha? It fit, he had time to get over her and Kikyo, and by then Rin was a woman who had a thing for silver haired demons.

"I of course forbid it and Rin argued." A wistful look crossed the old dog's face and Kagome couldn't help but return it.

"They married anyway and that was when we discovered the dangers of blood mates, I met other demons that spoke of humans they couldn't resist but when... They were consummating the marriage Inuyasha bit her. He later told me she was almost dead when he understood what he was doing, he also said Rin didn't seem to understand she was dying."

Sesshomaru gave a nasty smirk, "He of course was in a hurry to explain since my hand was around his throat."

Kagome gave him a blank look, pretending she hadn't noticed his fingers squeeze her throat just a little, he had set her down, but not let go, which was okay. At least she knew she could order him to stop before he killed her or something.

Sesshomaru grimaced, seeming annoyed by her waiting for him to go on and ignoring the fact her throat was still in his hand. "Inuyasha said what happened next happened because of something you told him."

Kagome felt a chill walk down her spine, anything Inuyasha did because of something she had mentioned wouldn't go well. She watched Sesshomaru's face, she could tell it had been five hundred years, he had relaxed a lot, his face showed what he thought, at least while talking about the past, she had a feeling his face would grow cold it she asked about more current stuff.

"He said you talked about saving lives in your home because people gave people dying from blood loss more blood. So panicking over Rin he used his claw and slit his wrist and gave his blood to her. Turning her. She was the first turned vampire."

Kagome stayed silent, Rin the first turned vampire. Rin married Inuyasha. Where was Rin and Inuyasha? "What happened to them?"

Sesshomaru, looked at her sadly, "They died world war two."

Kagome nodded, and remembered the names of some of her other demon friends, "What happened to Koga, Shippo, Jinenji and Kirara?"

Sesshomaru frowned, "Koga was killed in Aizen's first attack, all demon children became human, Inuyasha turned Shippo but he died two hundred years later, killed by one of the first vampire hunters. Jinenji was a half demon correct?"

Kagome nodded.

"He probably became human then, most did, Inuyasha was an exception. The demon cat like most of the low level demons that didn't die became a normal animal."

"Sango and Miroku?"

"The demon slayer and the monk?"

Kagome bobbed her head and lifted her hand to shove the hand on her throat away, Sesshomaru let her push his hand away.

"My half brother was going to turn them after they were done having children, but when the monk died fighting a rouge vampire off the demon slayer refused to be turned, she said she wouldn't live forever without him."

Kagome smiled, that was sweet and very Sango, she loved so passionately. Sesshomaru frowned, and his face became something closer to what she remembered, "Now how did you come to be?"

Kagome sighed, "I wished on the jewel, got sent home and started a life for myself, I became a vampire because Ichigo was my boyfriend. Aizen tried to kill me to get to Ichigo and he turned me."

Sesshomaru frowned. His eyes dimming to a dark red-orange, the glow gone, but the red color there showing he was upset by this information. "You can order the vampire population about... but... what would happen if Aizen were to find this out?"

Byakuya spoke up from by the door, "If I may my lord?"

Sesshomaru waved a hand dismissing the politeness, something he wouldn't have done five hundred years ago.

"Odds are good if Aizen should learn of this he would make a play for her. As you have told me so many times being a vampire things aren't always as they seem. He probably would drain her dry hoping her blood would give him more power since we believe he became so strong having fed on elders."

Kagome felt her heart pinch, Koga.

"If he didn't just kill her solely to keep from our hands and her from ordering him about. And if not one of those he probably would keep her about to make her take the chance to order us to surrender. The only answer I can think of is she just became as powerful an asset as you my Lord."

Sesshomaru nodded her head and Kagome suddenly got the feeling a noose had just been dropped over her head. "Wait what? How would Aizen find out, we're in your office the deepest darkest secret of the building. Only you two know! How would he find out?!"

Sesshomaru gave her a disdainful look, "We are at war, if we have spies in his camp then we have them in ours. Besides he has shown an unnerving ability for knowing things no one else should."

Byakuya nodded, "Ichigo has shown he can fight and I worry about him getting bored, he turned her he should be one of her guards. I also suggest Matsumoto, she is strong, and I suspect she and Kagome would get along. The only other one I can think of not already entangled in a job is Kenpachi, but he's a... Stubborn man."

Sesshomaru nodded, but Kagome wasn't happy about this. "No. I don't need a guard, I don't want one!"

Sesshomaru paused to glare at her, "You haven't changed at all Miko! Think! If he were to get his hands on you?! We would be lost! The world forever changed! Would you condemn so many for a selfish wish! Bad enough you started all of this in the first place!"

Kagome felt like he'd struck her in the chest, he might as well have stabbed her in the chest with a sword. She had gotten her mother killed, her brother killed, Ichigo's sister and father and so so so many others through the ages. She was the queen of the damned. She had damned all of them to this. She alone had done this. That running around in her head she caved, "Arrange it, I'll be back tomorrow to work, I need to go lay down."

She turned around and walked to the elevator, she couldn't believe the ground didn't shake beneath her, or she didn't just fall, she felt so shaky. Going back up to the office she found Renji trying to force himself to push the button to go down, he was ghastly white, and Tatsuki was still there looking confused. If there were spies it wasn't Tatsuki and Renji. "Renji you are free, do what you want. Tatsuki I'm going home for the day, I'll be back tomorrow."

She stumbled out of the office past Tatsuki, she grabbed her bag from where she had dropped it and went to the elevator. Going down she felt the knowledge of what she had done, what her actions had lead to. She didn't mean for it turn out like this, she had only wanted people to be happier. Safer. She snickered, safer, oh yeah that worked out great.

She needed to see Ichigo. Now.

Wobbling out the front doors she went to the hospital rather then the other office building though what she had just learned meant the one she lived under was actually a lab and office building rather then just office. Getting to the hospital she walked up to the front desk and stared blankly at the women who was asking her what her symptoms were.

It took her a second but she said, "I'm not here because I'm sick, I need to talk to Doctor Kurosaki."

The woman, a human, stared at her skeptically. "You're ghost white and shaking, you need a doctor honey."

"Look," Kagome snapped, "I just got some bad news and I want to tell him in person rather then over the phone."

"And who are you to him?"

"His girlfriend alright!" Kagome growled, irritated with herself for doubting that answer. He'd bitten her last night, he'd come to her, he still had feelings for her clearly, she just didn't know what they were.

The woman softened, "Sorry, he gets some odd balls. Head to his office he's helping in surgery, I'll tell him your there."

Kagome nodded. And following directions wound up sitting in a small room with a desk and three chairs, the desk covered in papers. Kagome had been there for half an hour and was getting desperately bored. She had stopped shaking, she had calmed herself and now was trying to ignore the strong smells and sounds from outside, she'd heard something about a car crash and from the moans following that she guessed it was a bad one. She was tried of staring at the walls trying to look like she wasn't dying of boredom but she knew she was failing, so she started trying not to read the upside down papers on his desk.

Her eye caught on a sticky note, bright lime green, she had a feeling it was so he'd notice and read it as soon as he got in, there was also a pink and a yellow one. The yellow one mentioned send file to Hazuki, the pink one mentioned a patient asking to see him, the green however... That was strange, it had a phone number on it, and instructions to call tomorrow night at eight or else and in the corner was what looked and smelled like a drop of blood. Holding the note to her face she inhaled deeply. She smelled a vampire but the smell was overlaid by hospital smells, and the blood... smelled something like Ichigo but not.

Then a horrible idea struck her, what if it was Karin's?

She had to know, but she wasn't going to ask him or call the number, she would just be waiting on the phone for him to call it tomorrow. Standing she left, she wasn't going to keep waiting, if he saw her there he would know she read the note, he knew she was too nosy not to. Seeing a different woman at the desk she knew no one would ask if he'd seen her. She had grabbed a bottle of diluted bleach, she cleaned the seats in his office and hoped the smell was strong enough he wouldn't smell her.

Walking home to the second basement she let herself in with the codes that let you in, after her breakout she had been told there was a set of codes to get out and a set of codes to get in, she only got the second. Walking down the stairs she went to her room, she wished she could just sleep a little longer, hide from the facts a moment longer. Opening her door she kicked her shoes off and on the way to her bed she stripped, her shirt first, then her skirt, then the pantyhose, in just her underwear she flung herself face down and just lay there.

Suddenly she was walking down a street, gray uniform told her again this wasn't her memory, two boys, Keigo and Mizuiro walked with her, Keigo was speaking. "You'd think Rukia would care enough to come visit us."

She jolted, images of Rukia wearing a black and white uniform, sword in hand, the word Shinigami coming to mind. Then a man calling out about his bag being stolen about the same time a punk ran past her and her friends. Ichigo, or her body shoved his bag at one of his friends and he took off running, very quickly she caught up and with one punch knocked his teeth out and got the bag back. Walking back she was handing the man, who looked to be in his early twenties, his bag back. She noticed his calm assessing eyes, he didn't seem that worried about it.

That was when she woke up, angry, fearful. It took her a moment but she realized she wasn't feeling it. She was sad, worried, and full of self loathing, and possibly a tiny bit angry it happened to her again, but this frightened rage wasn't hers. Ichigo got the note and probably given the strong reaction the blood was Karin's.

She would be waiting by the phone tomorrow.

Of course if this wasn't that and it was his reaction to her having made vampires she might just go off on a suicide run, killing Aizen and dying was a good life. And she had known for a long time, she didn't want a life without Ichigo. No matter what it cost.

Sitting up she looked at the time, given that it was only eleven thirty she was guessing it was the note. She was hoping it was the note, she was praying it was the note. Getting dressed she left her room, she get some practice in with her swords. She'd need it. She was half down the hall when she noticed, someone, probably a woman judging by the perfume, had stood at her door for a while. She had then walked along the scent trail the woman left, finding the kitchen, which wasn't really a kitchen just a break room with a large fridge full of blood. Opening the door wide she found a busty woman, with light red-blond hair sipping a glass of blood and watching television.

The woman turned as she stepped in, her face broke out in a friendly smile, "Hi I'm Matsumoto Rangiku, and I'm..."

Kagome cut her off with a smirk, "My baby sitter."

Matsumoto raised an eyebrow but shrugged. "As you like."

Kagome noted her unusual light blue eyes, blue eyes were rare enough but blue eyes that light were most often contacts if you saw them on the street. Of course Matsumoto was pale enough she could have been european. Inhaling she tried get a feel for the woman, she smiled brightly, but her eyes were heavy, the weight of years lay in them. She was betting the woman was older then Rukia and her brother. "How old are you?"

The woman almost simpered, "Thats very forward of you, asking a woman her age before you know if she has a boyfriend."

Kagome smirked back, she had met people like this before, aware of their beauty and the power that comes with it. "I suppose it was, but if you have a boy friend he's on the other side, working for Aizen."

Matsumoto set her cup down, and leaned forward a dangerous gleam in her eyes, "What makes you say that?"

"You're sad, I can smell alcohol in that cup mixed with the blood, and you're old, not S-Katsumi's age, but older then Rukia or Byakuya."

The woman smiled, but Kagome realized she had rattled her, Kagome found herself wondering a little if some of her ability to guess the ages of vampires came with being the mother of them. She had been good before, very good, but not this good.

"Can you guess closer then that? Think you can guess within five years?"

Kagome chewed her lip, Byakuya, Renji, and Rukia were turned eighteenth century, born end of the seventeenth but Matsumoto was older. About a hundred years older? "You were born in the 1690s."

The woman grinned, it was harsh smile, and a bit tremulous. "Very close, 1694. Turned 1717."

Kagome nodded, and then frowned, "You have to be European."

"Guilty, my father was the first mate on a ship that went to Japan he worked for one of the few ships allowed to trade with Japan, Dutch East India Company. He was trapped there for two and half years, and learned a lot of language, when he came home for a year my parents had me, and he named me Rangiku. When I was sixteen, he was now captain of his own ship and he took me with him, I ended up married to Matsumoto Hidehisa. He was a low level Daimyo, it was a good marriage for the time, he was kind in his own way, but I only spoke Japanese, I didn't understand most of the customs, I didn't understand how people thought. So I was unhappy."

The woman sighed, her eyes far away, "I think my husband's enemies hired vampires, we were attacked, and everyone there was killed. Even me, I remember it well, but I woke in the arms of a beautiful silver haired man, he turned me. He took care of me for many many years." Her glare turned harsh. "You are correct he left me for Aizen."

Kagome sighed, "Sorry to have pushed but I want to know you other wise... How can I give you my back?"

The woman stared and then snorted, "I guess I understand that. But how is a newborn like you become more important then Sesshomaru... Beside that how did you know his real name?"

Kagome smiled and sat down on a chair across the couch, "That..." Her smile wilted, "That is a really really long story."

**12:58 a.m.**

Kagome stared at Ichigo, he was sitting on the edge of the bed staring back at her. Her love ran a hand through his hair, Kagome wished for a split second it was she touching his hair, messy as always, but silky to the touch. She wanted to touch him, to ask him about anythings, what he felt for her, why he wasn't yelling, why he wasn't asking questions. But she was afraid, so damn afraid.

He finally broke the silence, "So Byakuya asked me after work if I'd be willing to give two weeks notice at the hospital and become your bodyguard."

Kagome knew he would have asked why she was a priority, she just didn't know what Byakuya would have told him so she didn't know what his answer would have been. "What did you say?"

Her sidestep answer seemed to have infuriated him, he was standing and quickly pacing the room, "I asked him why the hell he would suddenly want a guard for you!" He snicked to himself, "I was all for it from the beginning knowing you! But it's not the beginning... Kagome do you know what he said to me?"

"Nary a clue."

He grimaced. "He said Katsumi said you were now more valuable then him. The lord of our clan. I wondered how that could be. You might be more valuable to me then that old fart, but why were you more valuable now? Hun? Care to tell me?"

Kagome sighed, his anger spoke for itself, he knew. Byakuya told him. She wished for a moment she had stayed in his office, told him the truth face to face herself. But if she wanted to there for him, to help him get his sister back... She couldn't have stayed he would have known she would read what was on his desk. "I was a foolish teenager and wished incorrectly. I made vampires."

Ichigo stared at her all that anger gone, leaving him hollow, seeing his face look so empty it made her hurt. He slowly sunk back down on her bed. "How Kagome? How? Byakuya said something about time travel, and to be honest I don't really care... But why didn't you tell me first?"

It was her turn to swing wildly out of control, pacing she laughed, it was a harsh sound. "Tell you? Tell you what? I spent two years five hundred years in the past? I'd sound crazy! Tell you I made vampires?! I didn't know till today! When I saw Sesshomaru's picture! How would I know I made vampires when the split second after I set the path, I left, came home! Ichigo..."

Kagome felt like collapsing but words hung there, he hadn't mentioned the note, he hadn't asked where Rukia was, not that she knew. She felt like there was thread tying him to her and at the moment that thread was all that held her upright. She found herself creeping forward, almost ready to fall to her knees and crawl, she stopped by his feet and legs hanging off the bed. Staring into his eyes she found the same hurt she felt, the same desperation. They should have said so much.

"I love you."

The words hung in the air and for a half a second she wished she could take them back. But they were true and there were enough words unsaid between that she couldn't have held them back. His eyes searched hers, and she stared back. His body relaxed, his shoulders almost seeming to slump. His hand reached out and slid down her hand that rested on his knee, then his hand crawled up her arm.

His hand gently pulling her forward till her face was just inches from his, his response so soft only her super hearing let her hear him, "I love you too."

Then they were kissing and it was raw and desperate, and fierce. She was tasting blood, his and hers. Clothes were being torn, gentle wasn't going to happen, but that was never something she had wanted in her lover, or wanted in either man she fell in love with.

Later, when it was over, she lay between the sheets her head resting on his chest, his hand slowly running down her spine. She loved him, she loved loving him. Laying there she knew whatever happened she was going to make sure he lived. Aizen wanted him dead and the moment he knew about her he'd want her. Ichigo was sure to be in the way, and she probably would have to shove him out of it. No matter what.

She was carrying an over large kitchen knife, she was fighting, non stop, first the bald man, then men she could just punch out of the way, running and running. She found a strange looking man who seemed to be a friend, the name Ganju seemed to fit with what she could feel her body saying. They grabbed a little guy, Hanataro, fighting free then she, no Ichigo fought Renji. The fight was with the most amazing blade Renji's; it's snake like blade was incredible. Beating him her body, Ichigo's needed healing the two carried her away, to hide and she healed quickly and they were on the move again. Soon she, no Ichigo. Was fighting a crazy man with a torn up blade, he was beating her, killing her and then she was standing again, winning again.

She jolted awake.

It took her a moment to understand she had been seeing something where she was Ichigo, but none of what she was seeing fit. He had none of the scars she had seen and felt on that body in the memory. None. Was that the way it was supposed to have gone?

Fear crept through her body, these were premonitions, of what should have been.

Looking at the clock she realized she was alone in Ichigo's room, and she had an hour to eat, shower, dress and get to the office for work. Matsumoto would be coming with her.

**7:55 p.m.**

Kagome was waiting, holding the phone in hand, the dial tone echoing in her ears. She couldn't help but hope Ichigo wouldn't call, that she was wrong, that the blood wasn't his sister's. She hoped for his sake, but her gut and her head told her it was a fool's hope. She stared at the clock, three more minutes, she and Matsumoto were home, Renji, Byakuya, Rukia, no one else was suppose to be here but she knew perfectly well how easy it was to go in and out. Ichigo had probably asked for a break and come over for the call then he'd go back to work. Probably.

Breathing heavy, she watched the clock, less then a minute to go now.

She heard someone start dialing on one of the other phones. Holding her breath she listened, she could hear someone take a deep breath and blow it across the phone. If her heart beat she was sure it would be pounding. Then the phone started to ring, once, twice, three times, half way through the forth someone on the other end picked up.

"Perfect timing."

The voice confirmed everything she had thought, she would never ever forget the smug self-assuredness of the voice of the man who had almost killed her. Aizen was on the phone blackmailing Ichigo and he couldn't know she knew. What were Aizen's demands?

"You have better not harmed my sister you sick twisted..."

Aizen cut Ichigo off sounding highly amused, "That's no way to talk business Ichigo-kun."

Ichigo growled into the phone but said nothing.

Kagome found the hairs on her arms standing on end waiting for what the vampire would say next. Aizen was a twisted son-of-a-bitch but he was a cunning one.

The silence hung over the line for a long second before Aizen spoke, seeming to taunt Ichigo; "Aren't you going to ask what I want?"

"What do you want?" Ichigo snapped out.

Kagome felt the blood in her veins freeze in anticipation, this was the moment where she tested Sesshomaru's spy theory.

"I want you and that sweet hot blooded girlfriend of yours to turn yourselves over to me."

Kagome felt her heart sink, she closed her eyes in despair, he knew.

"No deal. Me for my sister it's that simple; a person for another person."

Kagome felt her eyes open in surprise, he either was taking his orders seriously or he meant what he'd said, he loved her enough to put her over his sister's life. Then the slight chuckle came over the line and Kagome felt the claws on her non-phone holding hand break the skin, blood started dripping freely. Aizen had an ace in the hole.

"Ah contrite. That's exactly what I'm doing. You for your sister and your mother for your girlfriend."

Ichigo sounded confused, "My mother's been dead for years."

"Not your birth mother idiot. The girl who turned you."

Kagome felt her knees give out, Ichigo was boxed in. He might be willing to not bring her for Rukia but the guilt would eat him alive, she couldn't not go with that information. But now she knew why she hadn't seen Rukia, and she probably was the only one who would know aside from Ichigo she'd been missing, no one would think that was the case tomorrow. Rukia was in and out so much everyone would think they'd just missed her. But it explained how Aizen had Karin, he'd followed Rukia on a trip to check on her for Ichigo's sake.

Kagome knew her plan even before Aizen gave time and place to met him the next day to make the trade. She was going early and alone. Either she had to order Ichigo to stay or she would just order Aizen to let Rukia and Karin go. If she took her blades, all of them, and gave enough orders she might just be able to kill everyone including Aizen there.

Ichigo's dead silence was kinda of answer all it's own and Aizen thought it was funny, that was when he started with the threats. "Now Ichigo I don't have to tell you what will happen if you don't show up with that little girlfriend of yours, it's the two of you for the two I have. If you show up alone... You just joined them, and you'll be the last to die I promise."

Kagome bit through her lip and found herself on her feet pacing trying to keep from returning his threats with hers. She hadn't tested out if she could give orders over the phone that had to followed. But it was awfully tempting. It was only the thought of failure that stopped her from opening her mouth.

Ichigo spoke in a dead sort of tone, "How do I know you haven't already just killed them?"

Aizen chuckled, and cheer still dripping from his voice he said, "You know what to ask don't you my boy? You bring the girl."

There was a second of silence then scuffling, and Karin's voice came over the line fear and confusion clear. "Onii-chan I don't know what's going on but don't come..."

It sounded like a hand was slapped over her mouth and she tried to bite it. But Aizen spoke up in the background, still sounding far away. "Ichigo, any words of comfort for your sister?"

Ichigo spoke strain clear in his voice. "Karin don't worry about it, it's my problem now. Aizen I want to talk to Rukia."

Aizen chuckled and after a few more long minutes, struggling could be heard but then Kagome could hear Rukia swearing and after a sharp crack and a groan of pain Kagome heard the rustle of the cell phone bring pressed to an ear.

Ichigo spoke sounding torn between anger and helplessness: "Rukia don't worry about what's going to happen, there's nothing you can do. Stop fighting and getting yourself hurt."

There was silence and then Aizen's muffled voice came through, "You don't answer him Rukia-chan and I'm afraid you won't get to stay with his sister."

Rukia spoke reluctantly, sounding absolutely pissed, "Ichigo if you drag Kagome here, into this, I will kill you myself."

Ichigo chuckled and Kagome knew it was so he wouldn't start swearing. The sound of the phone being taken away was clear and then Aizen added something else to the deal that Kagome fighting an evil smirk, no one was counting her as a problem.

"Now Ichigo I hate to add to your problems but the fact is still in place if you tell anyone including that delectable girlfriend of yours what's going on, everyone dies. I want you to bring her here without a clue in her pretty little head of why she's there. I want her to feel betrayed and if you can't do that your sister and master die slowly."

What would he do when she showed up alone herself she wondered.

Whatever he did she would enjoy surprising the two bit asshole. Calling her all those names to rile Ichigo, she was going to cut him into tiny pieces.

Ichigo spoke up his tone icy, "Then where am I and Kagome to meet you?"

"Eight-thirty at Sakura crossing 90435. Come too earlier and you'll miss us and bring anyone other then that hot girlfriend and they'll be dead before you're inside."

The phone clicked dead as Aizen hung up.

Kagome only was mildly surprised when she heard Ichigo give in and start swearing across the building, she just was hoping Matsumoto wouldn't go ask him what was wrong. She hung her phone up and walked back into her room, angry, and afraid she decided to the only way to calm down was to shower. Climbing out Kagome decided she'd need to eat, she wasn't really hungry, but the thirst was always there; as a vampire you could always eat more but she had never practiced gluttony but tonight might be a good time to start, she'd need it for the fight.

Dressing she then wandered to the kitchen, Matsumoto was in there like always, nibbling on a piece of frozen blood. Kagome thought it was gross but Rukia said older ones liked the change in texture.

"Hey Kagome Ichigo's home."

Kagome did her best to look surprised. "Really? I thought he'd be working late."

Matsumoto nodded. "He asked about you, he said he wanted to spar you since he'd heard you were pretty good."

Kagome felt surprised, maybe he was planning on taking her after all. Since this seemed like he was testing her skills, maybe he was testing how well she could fight. She put the blood back in the fridge and found Ichigo in his room."Matsumoto said you wanted to spar?"

He looked up at her and she felt her heart sink, he clearly was crushed under the knowledge that his sister and best friend were being held hostage by his worst enemy. He stood and clearly was trying to act as if nothing was wrong and maybe she only saw his distress because she knew it was there and why. Smirking he said, "I hear you've managed to beat Byakuya he's a challenge for me so I want to see what you can do."

Kagome nodded and went to her room to grab her dog blades, meeting him in the dojo she noted for the first time the type of sword Ichigo used. Everyone seemed to use something different, probably to keep things different so Aizen's men wouldn't expect everyone to fight the same way. Ichigo held a simple Daito with a blood red handle. He would fight with a more classic style she figured. It fit he had done kendo and for all his nonchalant attitude and misfit hair he was something of a traditionalist.

Drawing her blades she dropped the sheath on the floor, walking forward she braced herself and Ichigo gave her a regret tinged grin. "Ready?"

She nodded and he attacked, Rukia had told her one of Ichigo's real strengths was his speed, but he was almost too fast for her vampire eyes to follow. This was strange, she countered and stepped back his strength rocking her further off balance. He was stronger then Byakuya. That was wrong. He had beaten Byakuya but no one talking about speed like this. Ichigo kicked her left arm and she felt the bone break. Slashing she felt the tip of the right sword connect with Ichigo and when he paused for a moment she realized she had slashed his left shoulder open. A broken bone for a deep cut. Both of them were healing.

Sesshomaru and Byakuya had agreed it was possible feeding off her would give a vampire increased strength as feeding of older vampires had given Aizen his strength, but this might be the proof of it. No one save her had seen Ichigo fight since he'd fed off her. And he'd done it three times. Draining her into a coma for her turning, the first time they had vampire sex and then just the night before.

Ichigo blurred back into motion and she counter attacked without thinking, a few bone rattling parries later she lost her right sword and she was fighting him off with just one sword. Ichigo wasn't holding back, and she thought she understood, this was part of his goodbye. He wanted to reassure himself she could survive after he was gone.

It was just like him.

Kagome found her thoughts about his motives were making her angry and she was dealing him more damage. She cut his face, broke his left hand, broke his right foot, and broke his nose. But he wanted to win and was just as desperate as she was. He broke her half healed arm again, he smashed her knee the same time she broke his hand and when she broke his nose she found his sword skimming her side. Then it ended in a tie, her blade pressed to his heart and his resting against her neck.

With a silent agreement they broke apart and sat down to heal, the moment both of them were healed without more blood they started again. This time she dealt first injury, she cut the back of his left arm deeply, but his first wound on her was much more serious, it was an almost crippling injury to her legs, stuck in one place he soon beat her, and she found his body pressed against hers a siren's call she didn't want to ignore. Kissing him she ignored the pain from her wounds and the sound of their swords being dropped, this was their last night together unless there was miracle and both of them knew things like that didn't happen in their lives.

Later after they finished the first round, dressed again, gotten blood and gone to her room again did they speak. Sipping her blood Kagome was surprised when Ichigo got down on one knee in front of her. He made eye contact and started; "Kagome we've known each other through some pretty strange times, and some very quiet times, I know you remember how much my father liked you and you've met both my sisters and I had the chance to meet your family. So I think I can ask without presuming too much. Will you marry me?"

Kagome was shocked, he was asking her to marry him? "Yes. Yes!" Joy bubbled up in and she watched a relived grin break out across his face. Then he was kissing her and they tumbled on to her bed for round two.

It as only after round four and Ichigo had fallen asleep, her other feelings made themselves known. She was angry, helplessly furious. Ichigo was going to leave her behind no doubt condemning himself to a slow and horrific death. And since she was planning on going on her own. Someone was going to die tomorrow there was no doubt about it. She just hoped she could get Aizen first. She should rephrase that, it seemed likely one of the two of them was going to die tomorrow and she was going to do her best to insure it was her. But she also, if her guess was correct, needed to make sure if Aizen tasted her blood it was off the floor after she had been killed. If he had a chance to keep her around to feed on at leisure he would soon become the most powerful vampire on earth.

Plan to order Matsumoto to stay waiting for... maybe that wasn't the right way to say it. She needed Matsumoto to delay him. And if he took his swords with on his way to work he wouldn't come back here for Matsumoto to delay him.

She also was sad, if there was a way to undo the wish she would do it. If she could give Ichigo his planned fate she would, if she could change the fate the demon's suffered she would. Why wasn't she allowed happiness? She sighed, that was a lie. Lying here Ichigo sleeping at her side made her very happy. But it was bittersweet because it wasn't going to last. That was when she realized she was falling asleep.

**10:57 a.m.**

Kagome found at work she took time to say hello to everyone she had met and become friendly with at work the few days she had been there, Tatsuki thought she was being goofy but Kagome explained it away by telling her Ichigo proposed. The only nerve racking part was when Byakuya stopped and asked if she had heard from Rukia. She had so she told him, she just didn't tell him she heard from Rukia over the phone, from Aizen's cell phone.

It really was a good thing she was so awesome at lying.

**7:38 p.m.**

Kagomefound her eyes drifting to the face in the mirror that seemed to be hers but didn't fit withher picture of herself. Did her face always look so hard when she was thinking about battle? She ran her check again; dog blades, ninja blades, bracelet, a small dagger. Flat boots, dark leggings, a black long sleeve. She was as ready as can be. She took a deep breath, she had almost emptied the fridge where she got off work early. She took a few more deep breaths, she was going alone for Ichigo, she wasn't going to make him take responsibility for Rukia and his sister.

That did it.

She walked from her room and found Matsumoto sitting in front of the TV. The women looked at her startled by her apparel.

"What's going on? Why are you dressed for battle?"

"Because I need to go rescue Rukia and Karin from Aizen."

Matsumoto was on her feet going for weapons right away.

"Stop." Kagome hated to give the order but this was part of her plan. "You need to find Ichigo before eight and stop him from following me promptly, then gather Renji and every other good fighter you can think of. Ichigo can tell you where I'm meeting Aizen, but this is super important, make sure you stop Ichigo and make him wait for help. Give me fifteen minutes head start. So get Ichigo then call for help. Then follow me and come ready to kill some vampires."

"Kagome..."

She smirked as she walked from the room, this was the craziest thing she had ever done. She had already called a cab to meet her a block over from the hospital. Her blades in a bag she ran to meet the cab and was ready to hop in the moment it pulled up. Giving directions to stop three blocks from the arranged meeting place she paid the driver and ignored his questions about if she really wanted to stop here.

The area was trashy, run down and sure to be a haven for bad guys. She was in the right place. Approaching she picked out men patrolling, checking her cell phone she saw it was already eight ten. Then she dropped it and stomped on it, if she needed a new phone after this she would be delighted to spend the money.

Stopping the first two men she gave her first order. "You both are loyal to me now." For the first time Kagome could feel her will battling for control. Two people were a lot harder to beat then one person. But her will was absolute. Ichigo's sister would be saved. Rukia would be saved. Aizen was going to die. The right one smiled and the other revealed his age when he acknowledged her with a bow. "My lady."

"How many are on guard?"

"Twelve others."

"Is Aizen and the prisoners here yet?"

"Not for another five minutes."

Kagome nodded, "Stand guard like normal, and wait for further directions."

Both saluted and walked on. She ambushed the next group and gave them different orders. To attack the men inside the moment the two prisoners left the warehouse. Soon she had ten of the fourteen guards under her control, and Aizen pulled up with four more men in the car and another dozen in a van following.

All together she counted thirty one men, Aizen pulled a pale Rukia inside and then two men followed with Karin, but Kagome could tell Karin wasn't human any more. Aizen had changed her. For a split second she saw red but the plan settled back in. There was a plan. Aizen was gonna die. Quickly knowing her time was running out she got the last four men, asking the last two the time she found out it was eight twenty nine. Show time.

"What were Aizen's orders concerning me?"

"He ordered us to gag the woman who came with Kurosaki."

Kagome had to give the man props he'd planned to counter her orders by making sure she couldn't give any. But she was ahead of the game because she came by herself. "Okay I'm her gag me but don't tie it tight and get however many are suppose to escort me in and take me in."

She was given a sharp nod and the two men each took one of her sets of swords, then handed her a gag she barely tied it on. Just one twist but tight enough it cut into the sides of her mouth. Two more men jumped down from the roof and each took one of her arms, forcefully; but not roughly they lead her in. Only three of the over head lights were on and Kagome felt a chill of foreboding. Aizen stood dead center of the lights, a silver haired man at his right side and a dark skinned man on his other.

She had forgotten to ask one thing, if there were any other vampires waiting inside. The building was big enough Aizen could have had another hundred men inside and had every single one of them could be hiding. She was a fool. Aizen smirked at her and asked, "The boy?"

The man to her front right spoke, "He wasn't with her."

Aizen looked surprised. "Ho. He sent you on alone? Not a very good boyfriend now is he? But works for me."

Kagome took that moment to spit her gag out, privately relishing the surprised look on his face, she was unsurprised that he snapped out some orders. Seeing ten others coming from the darkness to silence her, she jumped in. "Stop!"

Instantly she had a horrible migraine, there was way more then thirty people in here. She had never given so many an order before. It hurt. There was no way when it got to the fight she would be able to order more then one person at a time to join her. Feeling blood running down her face from her nose, she still smiled seeing everyone of her attackers frozen just the way they were. Looking to two of the frozen men she ordered. "Bring me Rukia and Karin."

Grimaces on their faces, they stiffly marched into the darkness. Kagome ignored her body telling her she had already pushed it, smiling nastily at Aizen she couldn't resisted taunting him because she knew it wouldn't last long. "So Aizen it's funny you think Ichigo would dare send me in alone considering you told him not to tell me anything. Something about wanting to see the look of betrayal on my face."

Realization flashed over his face. "You listened on the phone."

She grinned, "Got in one. For the record leaving a note in a public office is a very bad idea. Now how the hell do you spy on Sesshomaru?"

Aizen grimaced and seemed to be fighting, but he quickly gave in seeming to want to save his strength. "Human office worker drilled a hole most of the way into the wall by his office, then inserted a listening device. It's covered by a filing cabinet."

The two men with Rukia and Karin walked into the light; Rukia was pale but gagged and furious, Karin look pale and wasted. Kagome felt a surge of anger at the thought of what Ichigo would feel the moment he found out his last family member had been changed. Kagome felt she had to say something to express her outrage, "You know Aizen you really are the dirtiest low down lying asshole I have had the displeasure of meeting. I can't wait to see your head roll."

Aizen smirked at her, and she wasn't too surprised by the evil tinged lust in his face, "All the girls say that at first darling."

Kagome knew then and there Aizen had a back up plan and that was when she realized the other vampires she had felt earlier were slowly creeping forward. Aizen probably had a number of them plug their ears and then left the younger ones without to throw her while the older ones could order them back into play. "Karin never listen to another order from Aizen's blood line again."

Kagome could feel the order sinking in and that was when she knew she only had seconds. The shadows sang of anticipation. "Rukia, Karin run for the hospital." Figures sprang from the shadows clearly intending to stop the girls, but Kagome gave another mass order. "LET THEM GO!"

Rukia and Karin ran from the warehouse but Kagome couldn't muster the strength to attack like she had planned, blood was running from her nose and she could hear a strange ringing in her ears, not to mention the double vision. Aizen was laughing, that was when she grabbed each of her swords from the two men slightly behind her and gave her orders to the four of them over the sounds of breaking glass. "Protect me."

She could hear the fighting and sounds of death, but her double vision wasn't going away.

Struggling to her feet she was grabbed by the wrists and forced to kneel, angry with herself she admitted she hadn't thought there would be so many or that it would cost her so much to give those orders. Looking up Aizen was only fifteen feet away, she could see more men now and a number of them were sporting large ear mufflers. Probably the kind from gun ranges. And it looked like she was correct, the ones with earplugs were the elder vampires.

She was ashamed because they didn't even see her as enough of a threat to make her drop her swords, they were controlling her wrists, the pressure stopping short of breaking them. Aizen smirked widely, "Loosing Ichigo's sister is annoying and I regret missing the chance to get rid of miss information, but taking you is enough to put me in good mood. So tell me has Ichigo tasted you aside from the night he turned you?"

Kagome spat at his feet, her vision starting to clear.

Aizen had the nerve to sound delighted, "Does that mean no?"

Kagome said nothing, the strength she had felt yesterday told her it was true her blood would give strength to other vampires and she didn't want Aizen to be worried about Ichigo.

Aizen strolled closer, "I gather my dear giving orders like that is hard?" His voice dripped false sympathy.

Kagome took deep breaths because she knew it was more annoying to men like this if you said nothing, she had seen how ticked Naraku would get fighting Sesshomaru. The silence stretched and Kagome couldn't stop a smirk when she saw the flexing muscles in Aizen's arm as she went on being silent. She was getting to him.

Aizen jerked his head to the man holding her left arm, swiftly she was jerked off her knees and kicked hard in the ribs. Kagome almost stopped the scream when ribs splintered under the assault, but blood was trickling down over her lips as she panted trying to control the pain. Breathing hurt but she had been human for so long and she had learned to depend on her nose. She was just breathing through the pain of punctured lung and broken ribs, they were healing and she did her best to keep smirking.

She only needed to buy so much time.

The fact Aizen hadn't realized that was what she was doing was a sign of how well it was working. Aizen came closer but Kagome realized he didn't want to come too close till he was sure she was too weak to attack. The coward.

"Now Kagome I expect a verbal answer. So..." Aizen suddenly seemed to realize he had over looked something.

"Kagome what is Ichigo doing right now!?"

Kagome felt a shit eating grin break out across her face. It was a good enough answer, Aizen spun and ordered the silver haired man; who he called Gin (who probably was Matsumoto's old flame) to take her to the car. That was as far as it got because that very moment the sound of swords being drawn came from the open doors behind her. Kagome didn't have to turn to know Ichigo and at least from the sounds of it, five others were there.

The guard on her right was surprised by the sound and for a split second loosened his grip on her wrist. That was her chance. Yanking her right hand free and turned and cut across at chest level severing the torso of the man holding her left arm, he reacted enough to break her wrist and despite blinding pain she continued to spin broke wrist not with standing. Her swords in her left hand cut the head off the one foolish enough to let go. She ignored the blood splattering her clothes and body as the bodies collapsed and turned to dust. She took the chance and through the surging mass of Aizen's vampire hoards she saw nine people. Sesshomaru, Ichigo, Matsumoto, Renji, Byakuya, Tatsuki, a bald man she had never met, a tall blood thirty man with longish hair, and what looked like a small child with white hair holding guns that he was using to protect people.

Kagome remembered what Rukia told her about guns she had told her normally they aren't enough to kill vampires because it has to be head shots and unless it was a shotgun often it still didn't do enough damage without multiple shots to keep one down. Rukia had told her flat out normally if guns were used in a vampire fight it was because you didn't want to kill but wound and take prisoners. But she had mentioned one name as an exception; she had also said he was the only vampire turned younger then her, Hitsugaya Toshiro. Kagome knew using guns was easier because no matter his age he would be stronger than a human a vampire with more mass could still beat him in theory. If they could get close enough.

She turned and growled in the first enemy face she saw, "Protect me!" She was hurting, her wrist had been crushed, and her ribs was only starting to be proper bones again. She growled out a few more orders managing to catch Gin, Aizen retreated and allowed his hidden army to march out. There probably were eighty or more. And there were ten of them.

She cradled her broken arm to her chest and started helping her ordered troops kill the ear-muffed, attacking vampires. She killed one, she lost a guard. Using her sword she knocked one's ear-muffs off one and mostly severed his ear but he took the dead one's place. That became her new tactic. The glimpses of the others made things almost look possible. Sesshomaru was in top form he hadn't lost any of his old skill and if anything he seemed better than before. Matsumoto was defensive mostly but she wasn't getting hurt and she was hurting others. The kid had damn good aim and was killing vampires with those machine guns of his. The mad man was cutting a bloody swath through the crowd. Renji and Byakuya were protecting the other's backs. The bald man seemed to be holding his own with his spear and chain combo. And Ichigo was almost as deadly as Sesshomaru, her blood was clearly giving him the upper hand.

The real problem was she was cut off and despite giving orders her guards were dying as fast as she could get orders out. Her back was to the wall, figuratively speaking.

She heard the sound of a body falling behind her and she was turning when the blade pierced her chest, her head flopped back enough she could see Aizen giving her a pissed but victorious smile. She could feel the intense pain of her heart being pierced, it was an ache but a fiery sharp one. He put his mouth to her ear and she found herself focusing more on the smell of his breath then his words. It was a hot stink, smelling of rotting meat and iron.

"I hate to just kill you, but you're a freaking pain in my ass and a risk too big to take."

He twisted the blade and she gasped at the sensation, it was passed the point of pain, it hurt so much she should have fainted, but it also hurt so much she couldn't. Feeling her arms and legs start to feel far away she knew she was in shock. Then she heard Ichigo shouting her name. Feeling like time was moving slowly she turned her eyes to him; he was horrified and angry and she could see the despair in his eyes. A sword through the heart killed vampires and since they were mostly dead or whatever a fatal wound was a fatal wound. No doctor could stop it.

Aizen ripped the blade from her chest and she half heard some of then others calling her name or yelling at Aizen, but she was focused on Ichigo now that she couldn't see him. He sounded so pained. She could hear the fight becoming louder as Ichigo tried to get close to Aizen who was standing next to her. Her eyes, since she was laying face down could only see a few pairs of feet and stained gray cement. But instead of growing darker her vision was staying about the same, she vividly remembered how the world went dark as you died, but it wasn't.

The ache in her chest was fading. Slowly but fading.

Than the voice from her dreams asked, "What would you give to change this?"

The strangely sexless vice seemed to echo in her ears, but from the sounds of battle no one else heard it. She remembered it had told her before there was a price but she wondered what it could be. But she had to answer honestly; "Anything."

The voice answered her but it sounded amused, "Even his life?"

Kagome knew right away who they meant and took anything back, "Anything but that."

The voice was silent, "Your life."

Kagome had a few questions, "How do I know you'll keep your end of things?"

The voice was amused this time, "You'll know."

"You'll save his life?"

"In a manner of speaking."

"How will you do it?" she demanded.

"You'll find out."

"But I'm dying right now right?"

"No."

Kagome didn't quite believe them so she focused on tilting her chin to her chest and lifting herself up enough to check. They were right, the blood hole in her chest was closed and the bruising was fading before her eyes. It was that damned mother of the vampires thing. She'd stake her life on it. Or she had.

"You'll make his life better?" she asked in her head.

The voice was silent having told her all it would, but since she had sat up a little more she could see the bald man had died, the kid was dying turning to ash on a blade. Matsumoto was almost beat as well. Renji was laying on the ground too wounded to fight, Byakuya protecting him. Sesshomaru was covered in blood and his clothes shredded even if no wound lasted for more then a blink. The crazy, blood-thirsty man had half a dozen blades in him and he was slowing. And Ichigo was fighting Aizen only a few feet from her.

Her life for his.

She still wanted to see Aizen dead first.

She staggered to her feet, feeling weak and almost dead. She had lost a lot of blood and by rights that should have killed her. Gripping her dog blades tight, she ignored Ichigo's surprise look when he saw her. Her right wrist healed, she lifted the blades high and she silently moved. Her slash; cutting deep into Aizen's back and spine.

He made an animal sound and spun not caring he was giving Ichigo his back, he seemed to know he was done for. His blade sank into her throat, the suddenness of it surprised her, and before the world started spinning, she saw Ichigo returning the favor. The world spun and she felt like she was dizzy and she hit the ground with a loud thunk and she blinked before realizing she had been so dizzy because she had been beheaded. She could see her own arm holding the swords and the rest of her bloody body. Then the world faded into black, and she couldn't help but hope Ichigo forgave her.

Then just like that she knew herself to be standing in the void of the jewel, the darkness and the horrible voice that was the will of the jewel. Midoriko was fighting, Naraku was asleep and she hadn't made her wish yet. She was still waiting on Inuyasha.

Memories told her she had just died ten years down the road. But that wasn't right she had also just been swallowed by the void Byakuya... the other one made.

"Just look into your heart" The jewel said to her.

Kagome did just that, she didn't know what just happened, the jewel didn't seem to be aware of any change. But Inuyasha was a friend, her first love and not her first wish any more.

"Just wish to see Inuyasha, that's all you have to do."

Kagome felt her body tremble and realized for all her mind was telling her Inuyasha would be here soon, for all she 'knew' it, she was still frightened. The darkness around her was so consuming, and lonely. But she knew with all her frightened, shivering body that was the wrong wish. If wishing for demons to appreciate humans more lead to vampires, wishing to see Inuyasha again would put her in Kikyo's shoes.

"There is no way I'm making a wish till Inuyasha is here."

The jewel laughed but she could see the pulse of power, it was trying to trick her while Inuyasha came. "You foolish girl he's never coming for you."

"I don't believe you! He's going to be here any minute now!" She forced all the defiance she could muster into her voice.

And just like before or now, she wasn't sure Inuyasha flew out of the darkness to stop right next to her. His shocked but relieved face told her for all the time that had passed, or seemed to. Or whatever Ichigo and the vampires were; a dream, a false wish, a different timeline. No time had passed for him.

"Kagome!"

The way he said her name sounded so relieved, she smiled back her trembling stopping. "Inuyasha."

He grabbed her tight and gave her a hug, and she felt sad that part of her mind was telling her she wasn't in love with him any more. She remembered kissing him before, but if she kissed him now it was going to be a good-bye kiss. He could be happier with Rin, no comparisons, no lingering thoughts, a new start.

She looked up at him and he seemed to realize something was different about her.

"Kagome?"

She knew her smile had turned soft and slightly sad. Kagome lifted herself on tip-toe and pressed a kiss to his mouth and pulled away. "Inuyasha, take care of the others and don't wait for me."

He looked shocked and confused, but he was too taken a back to ask any questions.

She turned back to the jewel and said, "I wish for the jewel to disappear forever."

The jewel exploded into fragments that turned to dust and the world faded into the safe glow of traveling through the well. They came out of the well and Inuyasha set her down, still holding her by the waist he asked softly, "Are you sure you don't want me to wait?"

Kagome stepped away and turned back to him, "I'll always love you Inuyasha but you can be happy without me. Find the girl who can always smile and take care of her."

Inuyasha looked a little hurt but he seemed to understand, neither of them would be a perfect fit in the other's world. He leapt back into the well but called back, "You had better do the same Kagome, find someone who can protect your smile."

Standing there in the dark well house Kagome felt horrible confused. What was she going to do? What had even happened?

**So just one last chapter... but I do have a good idea for a sequel if anyone is interested.**


	3. Chapter 3

**X-ing**

**Disclaimer: I own neither Bleach nor Inuyasha, and all I have to say is I'm obsessed with **

**Ichigo and Kagome pairings.**

**Chapter Three**

Kagome had been standing by the well still totally off balance, she had just said goodbye to her best friend and first love. Before that she was pretty sure she had been ten years down a different timeline or something, and just been beheaded. Not to mention madly in love with a guy she wasn't sure was real.

Then her mother, brother and grandfather came in.

Everything in her just collapsed at that point, she had died, she had been lost in the jewel, she had seen her mother and brother die horrible, she had killed her greatest enemy. She threw herself at her mother and cried.

Since it had been a Friday and late Friday she ate dinner with her family and went to bed but it was when she woke up in the morning that really threw her. Her first thought was; _"What room is this?"_ Because it wasn't her room under the office building of the hospital and it wasn't her apartment, then she realized it was her old bedroom at the shrine and she remembered. She had made that deal with the voice, died, woken in the jewel waiting for Inuyasha, made her wish and come home to her living mother, brother and grandfather. She dressed and was amused by her teenaged body, she had filled out some more by eighteen. She should be... how old was she?

She thought hard, _"End of my travels with Inuyasha... it means that this should be last term before the new school year. I should be sixteen going on seventeen."_

She sat down on her bed. She remembered that last time she had come home after her travels she had thrown herself into school work and became a teacher for first graders. But what would she do this time? She didn't think this time she wanted to be a teacher. She thought of Ichigo and how he wanted to help people and how he had wanted to be like his father. But what... what happened? Why... How had she come back? What had that voice been? Who had it been?

Another question struck her, had she even come back? After all had did she know if it even happened? What proof did she have that Karakura was even a real town? Ichigo seemed like something out of dream, a strange one but a dream. Punctual, loud and a fighter but not cruel, orange hair, brown eyes...

Kind a seemed like she had dreamed up a man with everything she liked about Inuyasha and got rid of some of the flaws that drove her wild.

Was that all he was? A dream? Vampires seemed like something out of a dream. She had even explained how vampires were created. The jewel. Sesshomaru was even a vampire. Sesshomaru a vampire, mister dog demon, a vampire. Ridiculous.

The sudden pounding on her door made her jump, it was her brother telling her breakfast ready. Getting up she went down and ate with her family. In her dream memories her grandfather died when she was nineteen, so he had been dead seven years. Then there was Souta, he had been torn to pieces by Aizen's vampires not to mention he had married Tora.

The more time she spent with her family to more everything seemed unreal. There was no way she had been beheaded and there was no way Ichigo was real. She knew all she had to do to confirm fact Karakura wasn't real was to search it on the internet but she had to admit she didn't want to know, not yet anyway.

Doing normal house work and then school work she found herself asking was she crazy? Was she sure she hadn't been locked up some where and this was all in her head? She pinched herself hard, it hurt so her pinching herself was real, but what did that mean? She grabbed her school book flipped to a chapter she knew she had only read in the other time line, it stuck out because of discussion it lead to in the classroom. She read it and it seemed familiar but she couldn't remember it word for word so it could have been some place else she had heard about it.

She got up and asked her mother about Inuyasha, if she thought he would be happy now. Talking with her mother felt very real but so had having her head chopped off.

So had the sex with Ichigo.

She flushed ruby at that, her real or current age shining through. Not to many people could say they had their virginity but knew that much about sex. Or thought they did. How did she knew these memories were real? They couldn't be.

Going to bed that night she knew she was going to go for a walk in the morning. She needed to wrapped her head around this.

**Sunday 8:04 a.m. **

Kagome had checked her body while dressing, she knew every scar on her body, she could explain every one: In the memories of the false future she had been in accident in collage and had four more scars on her shoulder from while she had been thrown through a windshield of a car when she pushed a friend out of the way. It had taken forty stitches to close the cuts and the minor concussion had left her sick with head aches for the next three days. Not to mention the bruising that had lasted two weeks.

After eating she told her mom she was going out, she kissed Souta and hugged her grandfather and then left the shrine.

She just walked, she was alarmed to note places she wasn't familiar in this timeline looked much the same as they had in her dream world. She walked all the way across the city to her old collage and then went to the ramen shop she had eaten at with friends many times, she knew in the other time line it was an old shop so she didn't know what to think when she entered it.

Looking about it she couldn't help but feel helpless, what did this mean? How could this shop be real if the other time line was dream? She gave her order, payed and sat down to eat, it even tasted like her memories told her it tasted like. Did that mean Ichigo was real? Did it really happen till something powerful offered her a way out? If so who? A Kami? How could that be? The God Tree she could almost believe; it was the tree of time, it allowed to her travel to the past, surely if she wished incorrectly it had the power to offer her a second chance...

She had to die before though... did that mean her soul had lived through that time and been allowed to rejoin with her younger body?

Was that why she loved Inuyasha but in past tense?

Finishing up she left the shop and drifted some more. She was walking through a shopping district when to her shock someone was calling her name, turning she froze. It was the sword smith from the future. Taller then most in the crowd, her eyes an oddly bright brown she stopped in front of her and held out the dog blades and the blade bracelet in gold.

Frozen Kagome stared. It was true. The timeline had really happened, she was or had been queen of the damned.

The woman shoved the blades at her, "Take them, you payed for them... though I admit to being curious as to how you lost them such they showed up in my shop again. I told you I don't normally get to leave my shop."

Kagome took the things with shaking hands, the woman looked at her strangely, before saying. "Don't lose them again. I don't think I could bring them back if that happened."

Kagome nodded her fingers wrapped tightly about her swords, her bracelet on her wrist. She stood there she wasn't sure how long before realizing if she had bought the blades, if the woman knew her, Ichigo was real.

She rushed home as fast as she could walk, the moment she got home she took the swords and bracelet to her room and set them in her closet. She hopped on the computer and searched Karakura town. It was real.

Hope surging she searched for the schools there; she soon found Ichigo's school because she recognized the uniforms. Then she mentally slapped herself. The voice had never told what would happen to Ichigo. It never said anything about him. If she hunted him down he was sure not to know her. If he was real.

She shut the computer down and joined the family for dinner, drifting between her desire to see Ichigo again, her fear he wasn't real, and her confusion over what had really happened. Sleep that night didn't come easy.

**Monday**

Kagome went to school, did well on the history pop quiz, told her friends she and Inuyasha had broken up. But none of it felt real, none of it meant anything to her.

Her mother, brother and grandfather tried to convince her everything was fine despite the well having closed but she couldn't find the words to tell them that wasn't the problem. She could deal with that, but what did she do about being in love with, at best, a boy who had never met her and at worst wasn't real.

**Tuesday**

Kagome noted there was only two more months of school, she wanted to see Ichigo and her grades for the last quarter should be good because she practically was doing nothing but studying at the moment. But could she really leave the shrine, Tokyo to go to a town she might know? Just because of a boy who wouldn't know her?

She sat down in her room her dog blades sitting across her knees. She had fought for Ichigo and her family with these blades, she had tasted blood with these. She could be strong, she knew it. But what was the right call?

Drawing the blades she did a few basic moves only to be surprised by Souta standing in her open doorway.

"Wow! Kagome when did you learn that?!"

Remembering in the other timeline she had wondered what Souta would think she found the wall that held her silent breaking down. "I learned long time in the future with a girl named Rukia. Souta call everyone together, I think I can talk now."

Souta looked serious for a moment before nodded and running down stairs, grabbing the bracelet and the blades she walked down stairs. Her grandfather and mother had entered the living room at Souta's call. Her grandfather gasped, seeing the swords. "Where on earth did you get those Kagome?"

She smiled a little, "How about you and mom sit down while I tell you."

Everyone looked at her but even Souta sat down, Kagome tried to find a good place to start before deciding on the real start. "Once upon a time a girl named Kagome fell down a well and had many adventures, the last one was her greatest. She had been told before she was the girl who conquered time and she only discovered what that really meant the day she wished on the jewel. Wishing for her friends who were demons to get on along with humans the jewel vanished and she returned to her time to never see her friends in the past again. She finished school and became a first grade teacher in history. But before all that the last year of high school she saw a boy on a another school's Kendo team, she liked him then and there but never got to talk to him. But she did learn his name. Then soon after she found out he was in Tokyo to become a doctor and he worked at a store. After going out of her way to see him he told her he had a girlfriend at home. Disappointed she went on her with her life only to get sent to his home town for a job. The first night there she found him again and they started going out. Kagome's short term there ended and she came home to Tokyo only to have the boy follow her back. Dating things were getting along fine till one night the boy missed a date and didn't call."

Kagome took a deep breath glad her family was waiting for her to finish before asking questions. "Two weeks later, her first time seeing the boy since that night, he broke up with her. A strange but young girl with him. Heartbroken she went on with her life until three years later she saw him acting like he was being followed. Curious she followed him down an alley only to be grabbed by him and threatened with a knife. Then he recognized her. Putting the knife away he told her he would talk to her later and they arranged to meet in a coffee shop a week later. Meeting him there he told her almost nothing and that strange girl was waiting for him outside again. Sad but almost hopeful the girl went home and the next day was normal- till a man too fast to be a normal human pulled her down an alley and stabbed her leaving her to die there."

Her mother looked upset and Souta mildly confused, but her grandfather had an odd gleam in his eyes. She went on, "The boy found her just before she passed out from blood loss and he swore she wouldn't die. When she woke up she realized her heart wasn't beating, she wasn't breathing and she was very hungry. The boy had turned her into a vampire. The girl with him had helped him turn her and had turned him after he tried to help her friend in a vampire fight. Training to be able to act like a normal human she learned vampires were at war, some wanted to rule humans and others wanted to stay in the dark. They owned the big hospital in the city and their group only ate willingly given blood. Donated blood."

Kagome set her swords down on the side table. "That Kagome was learning sword play as well since vampires could only be killed by a beheading, getting stabbed through the heart or by bleeding to death or by being starved. They could move fast, heal super fast, and were super strong. The boy and her were dancing around each other because the boy wanted to protect her and the girl wanted to help so she could protect him. She made friends and learned enough so she could sneak out while everyone else was at work. Visiting her mother and brother, she also stopped in a strange shop to buy her own swords. The shop, the smith said; moved between the future and the past and the smith was never allowed to leave till she could sell what she was supposed to. Soon the girl's mother and brother were killed by enemy vampires and the girl swore vengeance. She was told to get a job where she could be watched and stay out of trouble and that was when she learned the differences she had noticed between her and other vampires was because she made them with her wish. The leader of the vampire coven she was a part of was Sesshomaru. He had changed his hair and learned to blend in, but he had become a vampire. All demons had died or turned soon after she left. Even half demons."

"Heart broken she had done this she went to see the boy at the hospital, only while waiting for him she found a note with a drop of blood in the corner. Leaving she waited on the phone for him to call the number listed and she discover their worst enemy, the man that stabbed her. Had her friend, the girl who trained her and turned Ichigo as well as his only surviving sister. He want the boy to bring that Kagome and himself to a bad side of town to trade themselves for the two girls. He ordered the boy not to tell her. But the girl knew since she knew she could turn this on the man. She could set a trap. So she did. As the creator of vampires her orders had to be obeyed so she ordered her bodyguard to stop the boy from going and then gather all the fighters on hand. Then she went alone and ordered the guards to help her. She enter the warehouse only to find the man had been smarter then she thought he had hidden an army in there. Freeing the boy's sister and her friend she fought the army alone. Soon back up arrived and the real fight began. But since she was far from the group the girl was quickly over whelmed. Stabbed through the heart she realized it wasn't killing her, then a strange voice told her she could do it over if she died. Realizing the boy and the others with him were losing she agreed and attacked the man only to beheaded, she had just long enough left to see the boy kill the man before I found myself standing in the jewel making the wish again."

Now that the whole story was out- well she hadn't said anything about the sex or the fact Ichigo had asked her to marry him, but close enough. She sat down, feeling spent.

Souta was the first to speak, "So let me get this straight, you made the wish lived this whole other life only to make the wish again?"

Kagome nodded, that was a good summery.

"What did you wish for this time?"

"For the jewel to be destroyed."

The silence was nerve racking but her mother broke the silence next. "I'm guessing you told us all about this because you want to look for the boy?"

Kagome gave a clipped nod.

Her grandfather spoke up next, for once not sounding batty. "The sword smith must have brought you the swords. What did he look like?"

Kagome shook her head, "It was a woman, half European or American, she was tall, strong. Her eyes were a bright yellowy-brown. Her hair was black and wavy longer then mine. Her clothes weren't right. I'd guess she's from fifty or more years in the future."

Her grandfather stood up and did a little dance, "HA!"

Kagome looked at her mother who looked just as clueless. She turned back to him, "What?"

He calmed himself and sat back down. "I've heard stories of a shop from the future before. They go back a very long time. It's been men and woman smiths, but it centers around Tokyo. Not much else but I wondered. Those swords don't look right. But I always knew those stories were true."

Her mother just shrugged. "So Kagome I assume you know where you'd have to go to look for the boy?"

Kagome nodded, "I've thought about it. I'd finished the school year up and ask for a student exchange. I've been sick I need change in scenery, all that. Besides a girl would love to come to Tokyo and we are trust worthy as shrine keepers. But I want to go Karakura town, the school would be Karakura High School, if I remember right I would pick to be in class b."

Her mother slowly nodded and Souta oddly enough got a protective look on his face. "What's this 'boy' like? What's his name? What does he look like?"

Kagome smirked, "I don't exactly know what he's like now but in the other life he was stubborn, rude, but polite at the same time, grumpy, and a fighter. He has orange hair that he gets from his mother who in the other timeline died when he was fifteen. He has two sisters who are twins. His dad's a doctor and a very strange man. His name is Kurosaki Ichigo."

Her brother stared at her, "Strawberry?"

She shrugged, "It also could mean number one protector."

Souta slowly smirked, "You pick strange ones don't you?"

She glared, "I'm not exactly normal now am I? Why would I like normal guys?"

Souta nodded, "True. True. If you liked normal guys Hojo would have gotten his hands all over you."

She threw a pillow at him, it hit straight on, in the middle of his surprised face. She laughed, "Serves you right. You after all got married in the other timeline. You even had a kid on the way." She couldn't help but taunt him.

He made a grossed out face.

"Children, that's enough. Souta you have home work and Kagome if you want to do this so do you."

Kagome nodded to her mother, she had a lot of work to do if this was going to happen.

Her mother smiled, it was slightly sad. "Dinner will be ready in half an hour."

**Wednesday**

Kagome held her plans back from her friends, she wanted to do a bit more towards research before she told them, how ever she did slip into the office to ask about it. They were very helpful, handed her she forms as well as more information. When she got home she read it over, if it was switching with another student it was a bit different then just transferring, but she showed it to her mom who only asked if she really wanted to see Ichigo that much. She had thought about, moving to a different town, living in a stranger's home all in the hopes he wouldn't have a girlfriend? Yeah. She was gonna do it.

With her answer her mother pulled out the phone she had found in her own research of the school and town and called it. It took another two weeks before they were given the name of a student who was a good enough student to switch out with in class B: Kunieda Ryo second highest scoring student in her grade, and of the four girls they spoke with the only one interested in living at a shrine in Tokyo for a school year.

Kagome told her friends after being sick for so long and after breaking up with Inuyasha she was doing a student exchange. They were all happy for her but they swore they were going to miss her. She was just eager to see that stupid orange hair again. She only had a couple of months to wait.

**The End**

**So I don't know how soon i'll start working on the sequel, but it's all in my head waiting to be written, so if you want to see it send me a review and help me keep it in my head. So far as I know of two votes to see it soon.**

**Darkshadowedrose**

**P.S. And thanks for reading this little product of insanity. I love Bleach and Inuyasha and vampires so this is what I got when I threw them all together.**


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